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A message about the Louvre in Paris. Masterpieces of the Louvre are the most famous exhibits of the Louvre Museum. Tickets to the Louvre

The Louvre Museum is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world. It is located on the right bank of the Seine River in the center of Paris (France). The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world. In 2009, 8.5 million people came to see the museum’s masterpieces. The richest collections of the Louvre consist of works of art from different civilizations and eras. In total, there are more than 300 thousand exhibits and only 35 thousand of them are shown in the halls. There are more than six thousand paintings in the collection alone. The first building on the site of the current museum was a medieval fortress, erected to protect against the furious attacks of the Vikings, who sailed here along the Seine River.

For this purpose, at the end of the 12th century, the construction of two fortress towers began - on the left and right banks of the river. One of them was called the Louvre, and a fortress wall was later erected near it. At the beginning of the 14th century, they decided to surround Paris with a new fortress wall, so the Louvre Tower began to lose its military value.

King Charles V in 1317 ordered his treasury to be transferred for storage to the Louvre Castle, which by that time had already become quite large. A little later it became a royal residence. The King of France is also transporting his extensive library here, for which they even built a special tower. It was this collection that became the basis of the famous French National Library. Unfortunately, after the death of Charles V, the royal castle fell into disrepair for half a century, as subsequent kings preferred other palaces in Paris - Saint-Paul and Tournelle.

During the reign of King Francis I in 1528, the obsolete Louvre Tower along with the fortress wall was demolished, and in 1546 the transformation of the former fortress into a beautiful royal palace began. The architect was Pierre Lescot, who continued his work under other kings until his death in 1578. There is absolutely no point in listing under which particular king and which architect undertook to rebuild and complete the palace, however, this continues right up to our time: it is impossible to find a period of time in history when the Louvre was not standing among the scaffolding.

The last major construction of the museum was the construction of a pyramid right in the courtyard of the complex, completed in 1989. This building made of metal and glass was designed to relieve all the historical entrances to the Louvre, which were no longer able to cope with the flow of visitors. Now, after entering the pyramid, tourists first go down to the huge lobby below, and then go up to the Louvre Museum itself.

The Louvre Palace first opened its doors as a museum in 1793, during the famous French Revolution, when the masterpieces contained in the palace were declared nationalized, combined with church ones and shown to the public. Over time, the most valuable masterpieces from the royal collection were added to the Louvre Museum's collections. Also, many exhibits ended up in the beautiful exhibition halls of the palace due to numerous confiscations during the revolution.

The museum's collections themselves are huge and cover the art of Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, the Islamic world and Ancient Egypt, the culture of the Etruscans, and also include a collection of graphics, paintings and sculptures different eras. In addition, visitors have the opportunity to see a fragment of the fortress wall of the first castle and some surviving medieval halls, as well as the apartments of Napoleon III, striking in their splendor.

The main problem The problem that tourists in Paris who visit the Louvre face is simply a catastrophic lack of time. After all, you can walk endlessly through the magnificent galleries and halls of museums. In each of them, visitors are treated to increasingly beautiful and amazing sights. It is very noteworthy that the exhibitions of the Louvre Museum present only a small part of all the masterpieces of world art, while the rest are housed in special storage facilities. This is due to the fact that most of the exhibits are too fragile, they cannot be on public display for a long time. However, tourists coming from all over the world are eager to see even such a small part of the masterpieces. For many of them, just to cross the threshold of the Louvre Museum - after all, this alone is worth the whole trip to Paris!

Book a hotel in Paris

To explore the sights of France, in particular the interesting places of Paris, you will need to stay somewhere. Especially for you, below are Paris hotels divided into three categories: popular hotels, luxury hotels and cheap hotels. Here you can book a hotel room in Paris in advance according to your wishes and financial capabilities. For your convenience, here is information about the location of the hotels relative to the city center, as well as the number of stars.

Simply select the hotel you like by clicking on the “View Hotel” button. Next you will find yourself on a page where you can book a hotel. There you can also find more detailed information about it, reviews, ratings, photographs, location on the map, features and, of course, prices.

If you want to look at other hotels, you can simply select the city “Paris” from above, and a list of all Paris hotels available for booking will open in front of you.


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The most famous museum on the planet, the symbol of Paris, the pride of France... that's right - this is the Louvre. And also... imagine 22 football fields at once; fill this space with tens of thousands of sculptures, paintings, jewelry, ceramics and decorations - in short, everything that humanity has produced over the past 5 thousand years; Imagine that every day two infantry divisions (25-30 thousand people) march through this territory. So, this is also the Louvre.

Why the Louvre is worth a visit

Almost 10 million people flock to the Louvre every year not only for the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo. The museum offers 35,000 paintings, statues, frescoes, engravings, and prints for viewing. And this is only a small part: in total there is a third of a million in the museum’s holdings (a painting is on display for an average of three months, and then goes into storage to avoid damage - the atmosphere in public halls is detrimental to the preservation of the paintings). If you are strong, resilient and willing to spend up to 10 hours on inspection, each exhibit will get no more than a second of your time. Hence the logical conclusion: you need to plan your inspection in advance (and at the same time give up the idea of ​​​​inspecting everything).

Of course, a trip to the museum is not a polar expedition, but careful preparation is still very desirable. And it starts with choosing goals.

Although the Louvre's exhibitions generally adhere to "chronological" and "national" principles, there are numerous exceptions. The fact is that collections donated to the Louvre are exhibited in their entirety out of respect for the donors. Therefore, do not be surprised if you still have to “catch” the paintings of your favorite artist one by one.

Here are the main sections of the museum:

  • Ancient East (art and culture of Iran, Mesopotamia and the Levant. This collection contains a stele with the carved laws of Hammurabi - the most ancient monument to the rule of law);
  • Ancient Egypt(including the Hellenistic and Roman periods. For the world famous Sphinx - here);
  • Ancient Greece and Rome (the Etruscan collection of monuments is also exhibited here - there is simply no analogue to it in the world);
  • The art of Islam (comparatively new collection, opened to the public only in 2003);
  • Sculptures (an almost immense collection of French and Italian statues - from the 6th to the mid-19th centuries);
  • Decorative and applied arts (dishes, furniture, tapestries, jewelry and, again, sculptures - for example, the famous equestrian statue of Charlemagne);
  • Graphic art: drawings, engravings, prints... in a word, everything that was not painted in oil or watercolor on canvas (the most extensive collection of the museum);
  • Painting: in addition to the well-known Mona Lisa, there are 4 more paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, as well as paintings by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, El Greco, Goya, Delacroix and hundreds of others (about 6 thousand exhibits in total).

How not to get lost in the Louvre

First of all, you need to get a floor plan. It’s not difficult, it’s given out free of charge at every entrance - the main thing is not to forget about it because of your emotions. If for some reason you were unable to get your hands on a cheat sheet, here are some tips:

The antique halls (plus the East and Egypt) mainly occupy the first floor, paintings and applied arts - the second and third.

French works of art (again mostly) are concentrated in the northern wing of the Louvre (“Richelieu wing”), Italian works, including Gioconda, are concentrated in the southern (“Deon wing”, second floor).

In addition to the three above-ground floors, there is also a fourth - basement. It is almost never visited by tourists. But in vain! After all, it is there that you can still see the preserved part of the “old Louvre” - fragments of the walls of the 12th century fortress. And not only see, but also touch them.

Don't forget that the French name floors differently than we do. The first floor in France is “re-de-chaussée” (rez-de-chaussée on the signs), the first floor is our second, etc.

“Madame, Cherche Carousel,” or how to get to the Louvre without queuing

The entrance through the glass pyramid is called central because it is not the only one. If you have purchased a ticket in advance, you can use a separate entrance: it is located opposite the pyramid in the passage to the Palais Royal - just head towards Rivoli. If you haven’t purchased tickets in advance and don’t want to waste time in line, there is still a way out: you can get to the Louvre through the lower floor of the Caroussel du Louvre shopping center. If you get lost, just say to any passerby: “Je cherche Carousel du Louvre, sil vou ple” - they will definitely help you.

8 Paris attractions you can visit for free:

About the inevitable

Even if you want, you almost certainly cannot avoid the Mona Lisa - all the Louvre signs persistently point the way to it. You will probably also immediately determine the location of the exhibition - by the huge crowd in the hall.

People are always crowding around the painting, and there is no point in waiting for the end of the influx - you will have to look at it this way. After several attempts at vandalism, the Mona Lisa was covered with armored glass, hence the hard-won advice - stand exactly opposite, otherwise you will admire the reflections instead of the painting. Also don't get your hopes up for a long time stand in front of Gioconda - there is a guard on duty in the hall who makes sure that some visitors do not detain others. However, it is possible that Mona Lisa will want to smile at you - after all, even a second is enough for this.

Practical information

Address: Palais Royal, Musée du Louvre, 75001.

How to get there: by regular buses No. 21, 27, 39, 48, 68, 69, 72, 76, 95 or Open Tour tourist buses. You can also take the metro: Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre station on lines 1 or 7. You can also travel along the Seine on the Batobus pleasure boats (5 minutes walk from the pier).

Opening hours: Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday - from 9:00 to 18:00; on Wednesdays and Fridays - from 9:00 to 21:45. The museum is closed on Tuesdays, January 1st, May 1st and December 25th.

Admission: for adults - 17 EUR, under 18 years old - free. Prices on the page are as of November 2018.

Pyramid of the Louvre

If you enter the Louvre through the main entrance (Pyramid of the Louvre), you will have to stand in line for quite a long time, however, you can take advantage of this. So, while waiting, you can enjoy a stunning view of Napoleon's courtyard with its fountains and pyramids. In addition, you will have time to examine the Louvre itself, which is amazing in size, from the outside.

Once you finally get inside the museum, at the information desk you can pick up a map of the Louvre, which shows the most famous works of art. It’s better, of course, to prepare in advance and print out a guide from the museum’s website (http://www.louvre.fr/). On the website in the section Visitor Trails You can choose from 27 suggested routes of varying durations. The most popular route, of course, is Masterpieces, which you will complete in about an hour and a half.

Attempts to embrace the immensity and cover the entire exhibition of the Louvre invariably end in failure, because the collection of this museum is simply immense. Therefore, you need to think in advance about what kind of works of art you want to see. The museum is divided into three wings (Richelieu, Denon and Sully), which include the following departments:

  • Egyptian antiquities;
  • Assyrian and Phoenician antiquities (containing the richest collection of them after the collection of the British Museum in London);
  • Etruscan and Greek vases (Campana collection) and funerary urns;
  • antique marbles (including the famous statues of Venus de Milo, Diana of Versailles, Borghese gladiator, etc.);
  • sculptures average centuries and the Renaissance (works by Goujon, “Diana of Fontaineble” by B. Cellini, “Two Slaves” by Michelangelo, etc.);
  • the latest sculpture (works by Puget, Coisevo, Coustou, Houdon, Chaudet, Rude, etc.);
  • painting (one of the best art galleries in the whole world, containing over 2000 exemplary works of various schools of painting);
  • original drawings by famous artists;
  • gems, enamels and jewelry placed in the so-called. "Apollo Gallery", remarkable for its size, luxurious decoration, lampshades and picturesque wall panels;
  • antique bronzes;
  • works of applied art average. centuries and the Renaissance;
  • ethnographical museum;
  • nautical;
  • engraved copper boards (calcography) with the sale of printed impressions from them.

The most popular part of the museum is the Denon wing. This is where most tourists flock, dreaming of catching a glimpse of the legendary “La Gioconda” by Leonardo da Vinci. In fact, you can only look at the Mona Lisa out of the corner of your eye: the hall in which the most famous painting in the world is located is packed to capacity at almost any time of the day. A huge crowd of art connoisseurs line up in front of Leonardo’s masterpiece, holding a camera in their raised hands. And the Mona Lisa smiles mockingly at visitors from behind armored glass...

In addition, the Denon wing also houses a huge gallery of Italian paintings, famous works by French artists of the 19th century and a collection of Italian and classical sculpture.

Many will also be interested in the Richelieu wing, on the third floor of which Western and Northern Europe. Here you can see paintings by Durer and Vermeer. Hans Holbein the Younger and many other masters of painting. On the floor below there is a stunning collection of applied art, including the famous Napoleon Room, which amazes with the luxury of its decoration.

The Sully Wing will primarily attract those interested in the history of the Louvre.

Masterpieces of the Louvre

  • The calling card of the Louvre is the famous Gioconda or, as it is also called, . It is to this picture that all the signs lead, which the streams of tourists obediently follow. The Mona Lisa is covered with thick armored glass, and next to it there are always two guards and crowds of fans. Once upon a time, Mona Lisa came to Moscow, but then the museum’s management decided not to take this mysterious beauty anywhere else. So you can admire La Gioconda exclusively in the Louvre. Mona Lisa is in the Denon wing in hall 7.
  • Venus de Milo (Aphrodite) is no less famous than the previous beauty. The author of Venus is considered to be the sculptor Agesander of Antioch. This girl has a difficult fate. In 1820, because of her, a heated dispute ensued between the Turks and the French, during which the statue of the goddess was thrown to the ground and the beautiful sculpture was broken. The French collected the fragments in a hurry and... lost the hands of Venus! So the goddess of love and beauty became a victim of the battle for beauty. By the way, Venus's hands were never found, so this story may not be over yet. You can admire the armless beauty in the 16th hall of Greek, Etruscan and Roman treasures in the Sully wing.
  • Another symbol of the Louvre is Nike of Samothrace, goddess of victory. Unlike the Venus de Milo, this beauty managed to lose not only her arms, but also her head. Archaeologists have discovered many fragments of the statue: for example, in 1950, a brush of the goddess was found in Samothrace, which is now in a glass case immediately behind the pedestal of Nike herself. Alas, scientists were never able to find the head of the goddess. Nike of Samothrace is located in the Denon wing on the stairs in front of the entrance to the gallery of Italian paintings.
  • Another statue that is the pearl of the Louvre collection is Prisoner, or dying slave(work by Michelangelo). The Renaissance master is best known for his statue of David, but this sculpture deserves just as much attention. Denon Wing, first floor, hall No. 4.
  • Statue of seated Ramses II- another masterpiece that the Louvre can be proud of. This ancient Egyptian sculpture is located on ground floor in the Sully wing, in the 12th room of Egyptian antiquities.
  • The Louvre also has a fine collection of Mesopotamian monuments, the heart of which is code of laws of Hamurappi, written on a basalt stele. Hamurappi's laws can be seen in Hall 3 of the first floor of the Richelieu wing.
  • IN 75 room of French painting on the first floor of the Denon wing You can see paintings by the famous French artist Jacques Louis David, which includes, perhaps, his most famous painting - "Dedication to Emperor Napoleon I".
  • For lovers of Dutch painting, we recommend visiting Room 38 of the third floor of the Richelieu Gallery. Among other things, there is the famous "The Lacemaker" brushes by Jan Vermeer.
  • Through ground floor of the Sully wing You will be taken to fortifications of the old Louvre. Here you will see the walls of the medieval Louvre, which were found by archaeologists.
  • Apartments of Napoleon III, the last emperor of France, cannot help but amaze you with the luxury of their interior decoration. If you like the Empire style, be sure to visit second floor of the Richelieu wing: There is so much gold and crystal here that even your mouth is light!

Story


The Louvre was built at the end of the 12th century by King Philip Augustus. At that time, the Louvre was only a defensive fortress, but this structure was subject to changes century after century. Almost every king of France considered it necessary to introduce something new into the appearance of the Louvre. Thus, in the middle of the 16th century, Francis I, who decided to make the Louvre his Parisian residence, ordered his court architect to build a palace in the Renaissance style, and at the end of the 16th century, King Henry IV ordered the remains of the medieval fortress to be removed, the courtyard expanded and the Tuileries and Louvre palaces connected.

In 1682, the royal court moved to Versailles and the Louvre fell into disrepair until the French Revolution. In 1750, they even began to talk about the possible demolition of the palace.

New life was breathed into the Louvre by Napoleon, who resumed work on the construction of the Louvre. In addition, Napoleon made a huge contribution to the expansion of the museum’s collection, demanding from each nation he defeated a unique tribute in the form of works of art. Now the museum's catalog contains about 380 thousand exhibits.

For tourists


The Louvre is located in the heart of Paris, on the right bank of the Seine. You've probably already heard about the huge queues that await you at the entrance to the museum, but you shouldn't be afraid of them. Firstly, it is better to use not the main entrance through the Pyramid, near which an incredible number of people invariably crowd, but the passage through the Carrousel du Louvre shopping center. You can get there directly through the metro station Palais-Royal – Musée du Louvre.

To avoid a long queue at the entrance, you will either have to arrive about half an hour before the museum opens, or in the afternoon, when the flow of tourists has subsided a little. The museum is open from 9:00 to 18:00 on Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and from 9:00 to 21:45 on Wednesdays and Fridays. Tuesday – day off.

Entrance ticket to the Louvre costs 12 euros. If you want to visit not only the permanent exhibition, but also exhibitions and the Napoleon Hall, then a ticket will cost you 13 euros.

It is impossible to visit France without visiting the Louvre. We can safely say that this is the most famous museum in the world. It ranks first not only in popularity, but also in the number, value of exhibits and the size of the exhibition area, which is about 60 thousand square meters. m.

The Louvre is located in a palace building on the right bank of the Seine in the first Parisian arrondissement. The origins of the history of this majestic architectural monument go back to the end of the 12th century, when Philip II Augustus ordered the construction of a fortress that protected the city from the Vikings. Four centuries later, Francis I erected a Renaissance palace in its place, which gradually, over several centuries, was expanded and completed by those in power.

The palace acquired an appearance close to its modern state in 1871 and remained unchanged for a long time. It was only in 1981 that large-scale restoration of the building began. It was then that a new and still controversial glass pyramid appeared - the modern entrance to the museum. This is, perhaps, the only attraction that tourists can explore without haste and fuss, in all details - during the season, the queues at the Louvre reach incredible proportions.

Officially, the palace began to be considered a museum back in 1793. On August 10, its grand opening took place for the general public - 537 paintings were presented to their attention. However, visitors were allowed here before, even under Francis I, although in somewhat limited numbers.

Over the many years of the museum's existence, its funds have consistently increased due to numerous donations and gifts. On this moment The Louvre exhibits more than 380 thousand exhibits, the oldest of which date back to the 6th millennium BC. e. Once in the famous museum it is impossible not to get confused, so you need to think in advance what exactly you would like to see first. It is unrealistic to cover all the halls in one day.

The Louvre consists of eight departments: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome and Etruria, Ancient Near East, Ancient Greece, Islamic art, applied art, sculpture, painting, drawings and prints. In each of the departments, unique exhibitions are presented to the attention of tourists, which are the most complete collections of thematic exhibits in the world.

However, the most famous works of art in the Louvre, to which visitors first flock, are considered to be the “three goddesses”. Namely: Leonardo's Mona Lisa is a mysterious masterpiece that attracted sightseers even during its disappearance; Venus de Milo is the world's most famous sculpture of the ancient goddess of love; Nike of Samothrace is an incredibly elegant and expressive stone sculpture of the winged goddess of victory.

Even the possibility of just a brief acquaintance with these works of art is worth a trip to France and a visit to the Louvre. Moreover, many tourists, succumbing to the charm of the “goddesses,” return to the museum again and again. It’s not for nothing that the 1st arrondissement in Paris is called a tourist mecca. In addition to the Louvre, it is home to the Tuileries Gardens, the Palace Royal, the famous Place Vendôme and the Rue de Rivoli.

The fate of which is closely intertwined with the history of the country. It is worth noting that the Louvre is not only an architectural monument, a former palace French kings, but also one of the most famous museums, the largest in the world in terms of the number of works of art on display. There is a rich collection of exhibits here: bas-reliefs from Assyrian palaces, Egyptian paintings, ancient sculpture... the list goes on and on.

Location of the Louvre

The Louvre is open daily. There are two ways to get here. The most popular (and most beautiful) road is from Rivoli Street. It passes through the famous glass pyramid, built at the end of the 20th century. This pyramid, which unites individual parts of the palace, houses a hall, a wardrobe, shops and rooms for temporary exhibitions.

The second route passes through the Palais Royal Musee du Louvre metro station. Through an underground passage, the visitor enters the Napoleon Hall - this is already the territory of the museum.

Features of architecture and interior:

IN last years The Louvre is not only constantly restored, but also supplemented with new elements. The museum has generally become much more accessible to visitors. The interior spaces have been expanded, making it possible to display a lot of things from the storerooms. The Medieval Louvre department also appeared here.

In 1989, a glass pyramid was created in the courtyard of the Louvre, which became a real decoration of the Tuileries Garden. The structure connects the palace with new halls. The author of the pyramid is an American architect of Chinese origin, Yoh Ming Pi. The height of the building is 21 meters, it is surrounded by a fountain. There are two more smaller pyramids nearby.

Pi accomplished what Napoleonic architects failed to achieve. The triumphal arch Carousel, built in 1806-1808 between the Louvre and the Tuileries, disappointed the emperor. Now the Triumphal Way has acquired a worthy replacement - the Pyramids of Pei, the personification of symmetry.

The pyramid ends with a giant arch, which is clearly visible from the city center. At night the pyramid is illuminated, during the day they are reflected in it.

To the west of the Louvre is Place Carrousel, where the arch of the same name once stood. The bronze chariot on the arch is a copy of the horses cast by a Greek sculptor in the 3rd century BC. Behind the arch began the Tuileries Garden. A smaller copy is now kept in the Louvre.

The interior of the palace is decorated with great elegance. Of greatest interest are the Hall of the Caryatids and the Gallery of Apollo. The Hall of the Caryatids is considered one of the oldest rooms in the Louvre. Nowadays antique sculptures are exhibited here. The Apollo Hall got its name in honor of the ancient god, who is depicted on three panels hung in this hall. In 1661, this room was badly damaged by fire. But it was restored, and now visitors see it the same as it was several hundred years ago.

Back in the 16th century, on the orders of Catherine de Medici, a garden was laid out around the palace, next to the Louvre. Henry VI added an orangery to it (now the Orangery Museum is located in its place). In the center of the garden there is a small pond. There are metal chairs all around, on which tourists like to relax after touring the halls of the Louvre. At the end of the garden, on the Champs Elysees side, stands the National Gallery of the Jeu de Paume. At the exit to the Place de la Concorde there is a Ferris wheel from which a panoramic view of Paris opens.

History of the Louvre

The Louvre is a medieval fortress, palace of the kings of France and a museum for the last two centuries. The architecture of the palace reflects more than 800 years of French history.

Historians still do not have a consensus on where the name of the palace came from. Some believe that it came from the word “leowar”, which in the Saxon language means “fortification”. Others are convinced that there is a connection with the French word “louve” (“she-wolf”), supporters of this opinion argue that on the site of the palace there was a royal kennel where dogs were trained to hunt wolves.

The history of the Louvre began in 1190, when King Philip Augustus, before setting out on the Crusade, founded a fortress that protected Paris from Viking raids from the west. The medieval fortress later turned into a luxurious palace. The first to settle here was Charles V, who moved here with the Cité (the former residence of the kings), away from the rebels, who literally massacred his friends and associates in front of his eyes. Since 1528, when Francis I ordered the old “junk” (as he himself called the old palace) to be demolished and a new one erected in its place, each monarch has rebuilt the Louvre or added new buildings - such as Catherine de Medici, wife of Henry II, who added to the Louvre, Tuileries Palace. The architect Pierre Lescaut and the sculptor Jean Goujon gave the Louvre the appearance that, despite numerous alterations, has largely been preserved to this day.

In 1682, when the royal court was moved to Versailles, all work was abandoned and the Louvre fell into decay. In 1750, there was even talk of its demolition; the author of the colonnade on St. Peter's Square in Rome, Lorenzo Bernini, proposed to the Prime Minister of Louis XIV Colbert to demolish the old building and build a new one in its place. Despite the great temptation, the king nevertheless decided to leave the palace.

After the turbulent years of the Revolution, work on the construction of the Louvre was resumed by Napoleon. During the years of the great French Revolution, the halls of the palace were used to house the national printing house, academy, and also as private apartments for wealthy Frenchmen.

The castle acquired its modern appearance in 1871. In May of the same year constituent Assembly decided to collect “monuments of science and art” in the Louvre. On August 10, 1793, the gallery was opened to the public and finally turned into a museum. The grand opening of the museum took place on November 18, 1793. At that time, the exhibits occupied only one square hall and part of the adjacent gallery. Napoleon I made a special contribution to the expansion of the collection. From each defeated nation he demanded tribute in the form of works of art. Today, the museum's catalog contains 400,000 exhibits.

In 1981, by decision of the President of the Republic François Mitterrand, restoration work began at the Louvre. The most ancient parts (the ruins of the main tower) have been restored.

Louvre today

The once royal residence has now become a world-famous museum. The Louvre presents 198 exhibition halls: Antique East, Antique, Ancient, Etruscan and Roman civilizations, Painting, Sculpture, Graphics and art objects from the Middle Ages to 1850, etc.

The core of the collection of paintings, known today throughout the world, was the collection of Francis I, which he began to compile in the 16th century. It was replenished by Louis XIII and Louis XIV. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Louvre collection expanded through the acquisition of masterpieces at art exhibitions and numerous private donations. There are now 400,000 exhibits in the collection.

It is in the Louvre that internationally recognized masterpieces are kept: “La Gioconda”, “Nike of Samothrace”, “Venus de Milo”, “Slaves” by Michelangelo, “Psyche and” by Canova, etc. In the Sully wing (around the “Square Court”) at the top you can view works of French paintings from Poussin and Lorrain to Vato and Fragoner.

The first floor is dedicated to applied art: thousands of examples of furniture, interior items, dishes, vases, etc. are collected here. In the Richelieu wing and in its three covered courtyards, painting is located at the very top due to the lighting. Artistic crafts are on display on the ground floor, while French sculpture is located on the ground floor.

The museum's fund is constantly updated and replenished: the Society of Friends of the Louvre, charitable organizations and foundations, as well as private individuals are actively working to help complete the collection. Recently received exhibits include archaeological finds from excavations at the “Medieval Louvre”. The most remarkable of them is the helmet of King Charles VI, found in fragments and skillfully restored.

Collections are also being redistributed between different museums in France. In December 1986, on the other side of the Seine, the D'Orsay Museum was opened in a converted former train station building. Works created by artists from 1848 to 1914 were transferred there from the Louvre. A later stage in the development of art, starting with the Fauvists and Cubists, is represented in the Georges Pompidou Center, opened in 1977.

It is simply impossible to get around the exhibition in one day, so many come back here several times.

The halls of the Louvre are equipped the latest technology, this is especially true for the security system, which makes the museum the most reliable repository of historical values. Today, the Louvre is recognized as the most popular museum. In 2000, 6 million people visited here, with the vast majority of visitors being foreigners.