Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Louvre today rambles over four floors and through three wings: the
Sully Wing
creates
the four sides of the Cour Carrée (literally 'square courtyard') at the eastern end of the com-
plex; the
Denon Wing
stretches 800m along the Seine to the south; and the northern
Riche-
lieu Wing
skirts rue de Rivoli. The building started life as a fortress built by Philippe-
Auguste in the 12th century - medieval remnants are still visible on the lower ground floor
(Sully). In the 16th century it became a royal residence and after the Revolution, in 1793, it
was turned into a national museum. Its booty was no more than 2500 paintings and objets
d'art.
Over the centuries French governments amassed the paintings, sculptures and artefacts
displayed today. The 'Grand Louvre' project inaugurated by the late President Mitterrand in
1989 doubled the museum's exhibition space, and both new and renovated galleries have
since opened, including the state-of-the-art
Islamic art galleries
(lower ground floor, Den-
on) in the stunningly restored Cour Visconti.
THE P
THE PYYRAMID
AMID: INSIDE & O
: INSIDE & OUT
Almost as stunning as the masterpieces inside is the 21m-high glass pyramid de-
signed by Chinese-born American architect IM Pei that bedecks the main en-
trance to the Louvre in a dazzling crown. Beneath Pei's Grande Pyramide is the
Hall Na
oléon, the main entrance area, comprising an information booth, tem-
porary exhibition hall, bookshop, souvenir store, cafe and auditoriums. To revel in
another Pei pyramid of equally dramatic dimensions, head towards the
Carrousel
shops 10am-8pm; ; Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre)
, a busy shopping mall that loops
underground from the Grande Pyramide to the
Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel
-
its centrepiece is Pei's Pyramide In
Hall Napolé
ide Inversée (inverted glass pyramid).
French kings wore their crowns only once - at their coronation. Lined with em-
broidered satin and topped with openwork arches and a fleur-de-lis, Louis XV's
1722-crafted crown (Room 66, 1st floor, Denon) was originally adorned with
pearls, sapphires, rubies, topazes, emeralds and diamonds.
Priceless Antiquities
Whatever your plans are, don't rush by the Louvre's astonishing cache of treasures from an-
tiquity: both
Mesopotamia
(ground floor, Richelieu) and
Egypt
(ground and 1st floors,
