The Louvre Museum in Paris is the largest, oldest and most well known museum in the French capital. Even those not interested in art cannot help but admire the magnificent building of the Louvre Museum in Paris. Originally built as a military fortress in the 13th Century, the Louvre was a royal palace for several years during the 16th century before becoming a museum in 1793.
The Louvre Museum in Paris is laid out into four sections or wings, each of which serves its own purpose. The heart of the Louvre Museum is the Carosel deLouvre which is where the famous glass pyramid that features in the Tom Hanks movie ‘Da Vinci Code’ is located.
This pyramid was designed by the American architect Im Pei in the 1990’s and has come to be quite an attraction in itself. The Dennon section of the Louvre Museum Paris is a 500 meter long hall with rooms branching off it that runs parallel to the river Seine. The Richelieu wing of the Louvre is situated adjacent to the Rue de Rivoli, while the sully end of the Louvre Museum forms the eastern part of the museum. Each one of these wings houses art collections according to historical period and geographical origin.
Louvre Museum Paris Art
The Louvre Museum in Paris has many of the most famous pieces of artwork in the history of human civilization. At the top of this list has to be the famous Mona Lisa, although it’s important not to get to hung up on seeing this, as that area of the Louvre is crowded and there’s so much more to see in the museum.
The artworks housed in the Louvre museum Paris have been collected by successive French Governments over the past 500 years. This is why the Louvre Museum Paris has such a rich and extensive collection of artworks taken from other countries and cultures. Arguably the best Islamic, Greek and Assyrian art collections in the world are held in the Louvre Museum Paris.
Visiting Louvre Museum Paris
Before you go to the Louvre Museum in Paris it’s important to realize you’ll never see everything there is to see in a day. If you want to do that it’d be a good idea to find a hotel near the Louvre museum in Paris and set aside a whole week to see the art on offer.
If you want to get the most out of your trip, decide before hand what it is your most interested in seeing and stick to that. Trying to see everything means you’ll be too rushed and won’t enjoy seeing anything. For more detailed information, please see our page about Louvre museum tickets, opening times & guided tours. If you’re going to be in Paris for atleast a few days and want to see other museums then consider buying the Paris museum pass.
