The Paris Louvre is rightfully considered the most famous museum in the world. It stores a number of priceless works of art, the value of which is estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars, or even more. And to estimate at least roughly how much the entire collection of the Louvre, the former residence of the French kings, is simply impossible.
Among all the art museums in the world, it is the most visited. About 10 million tourists come to the Louvre annually. He has two satellite museums – the Louvre Lance, also located in France, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, which is located in the United Arab Emirates. The Louvre holds about 300 thousand exhibits. This, by the way, is much less than in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. All exhibits in the Louvre are divided into 9 collections. One of them is dedicated to the history of this museum itself. This magnificent palace has long been the residence of the French monarchs. It was first opened to the public during the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th century. During the Second World War, when German troops captured Paris, the Louvre’s collections were evacuated in advance. The museum was robbed several times. They even stole Mona Lisa, the most expensive exhibit, but she later managed to find and return it. Initially, only antique statues were in the Louvre. An exception was made only for sculptures by Michelangelo. The Louvre exposition occupies four buildings. To at least just go through all the halls, it will take more than one day.
Once upon a time, the Louvre was a fortress. Moreover, its first tower was erected in 1190, and it is already more than 8 centuries old. Before the revolution, there were many workshops in the Louvre, in which craftsmen created various luxury goods directly for the ruling dynasty. In front of the Louvre is a glass pyramid, built in the 80s of the last century. It consists of 673 segments, and the prototype was the Cheops Pyramid. The colonnade of the Louvre was designed by the architect Claude Perrot, brother of the famous writer Charles Perrot. The origin of the name “Louvre” is still unknown, although there are different assumptions. Many exhibits belonging to the museum are exhibited only from time to time, since the area for their simultaneous placement is simply not enough. About 10% of all collections are exhibited at the same time. Among all the museums in the world, the Paris Louvre takes first place in the area it occupies. Only two lower floors of the Louvre are reserved for the museum. The rest of the building has administrative functions. Also here is the French Ministry of Finance.
Emperor Napoleon renamed the Louvre into the museum named after Napoleon Bonaparte, that is, himself, but after he was overthrown, the ancient palace was returned to its former name. The Louvre administration officially allows novice artists to come with easels and brushes at certain hours, and to copy paintings exhibited in the halls. It is here that the famous Mona Lisa is stored. Since the state of the picture began to cause concern because of age, she completely stopped leaving the Louvre, even for exhibitions. And for her there is a separate room, reliably protected, and there are no other exhibits in it at all. The popularity of the museum increased even more after the release of the book and the film “Da Vinci Code”, since the effect of this work partially takes place here. In 2016, the museum’s administration even released a smartphone application that helps tourists navigate a huge complex of buildings and not get lost. On the official website of the Louvre, you can free arrange a virtual tour of its halls. The museum stands on the banks of the Seine River, and sometimes the water level in it rises. For such a case, the Louvre has developed a special scheme for the evacuation of expositions – they resort to it if there is a risk that water will flood the first floor of the museum.
