Paris & Around - Discover France: Experience the Best of France - page 158

Galerie d'Apollon
IZZET KERIBAR
Don't Miss
Musée du Louvre
The vast Palais du Louvre was constructed as a fortress by Philippe-Auguste in the early
13th century and rebuilt in the mid-16th century for use as a royal residence.
When the museum opened in the late 18th century, it contained 2500 paintings and ob-
jets d'art; today some 35,000 are on display.
The museum's prize piece is da Vinci's La Joconde, better known as Mona Lisa (room
6, 1st floor, Salle de la Joconde, Denon Wing). Other famous works from antiquity include
the Seated Scribe (room 22, 1st floor, Sully Wing), the Code of Hammurabi (room 3,
ground floor, Richelieu Wing) and that armless duo, the Venus de Milo (room 7, ground
floor, Denon Wing) and the Winged Victory of Samothrace (opposite room 1, 1st floor,
Denon Wing).