The Louvre Museum is the biggest museum in the world. It is one of the most visited attractions in Paris, France with approximately 17,000 people visiting every day and 70% of them are foreign tourists. There are a total of 380,000 pieces in the museum. The collection includes work from ancient civilizations to the mid-19th century.
Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece Mona Lisa is undoubtedly one of the most famous of all of them. It was originally built as a fortress in 1190 by Phillip Augustus and then in 16th century it was turned into a royal palace.
Quick Facts: –
- During World War II, the Louvre Museum was used by the Nazis as a storeroom for stolen art.
- Napoleon Bonaparte renamed the museum to Musée Napoleon during his reign and expanded its collection by 5,000 pieces.
- There are approximately 7,500 paintings in the museum’s galleries and 66% of them are created by French artists.
- The museum has a 21 meters high pyramid which is solely made of glass and metal. It was built in 1989.
- The Louvre Museum was opened to public in August 1793 for the first time by the National Assembly.
- At the time of opening, the collection consisted of only 537 paintings.
- It is estimated that it would take about 100 days to cover each of the paintings in the museum.
- The Venus of Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace are two well known statues in the museum.
