One of the world's greatest museums, the Louvre contains some 35 000 works of art displayed across a floor space of over 60 000 square metres. Varied and exquisite collections include Egyptian, Greek and Etruscan and Roman antiquities; sculpture from the Middle Ages; Islamic Art; and paintings representing every European school from the 13th century up until 1848. Among the Louvre's most celebrated works of art are Greek sculptures Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace; and paintings including Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. Renowned masters Raphael, Botticelli, Fragonard, Michelangelo, Constable and Gainsborough also feature prominently in the museum's collection of Western Art.
All the Louvre's collections are housed within the magnificent wings of a Renaissance palace, constructed by various French monarchs from the reign of Francis I (1494-1547) onwards. This current building sits on the foundations of an earlier 13th century fortress, the spooky vestiges of which you can still explore in the Louvre's basement. Entry to the museum is via a striking glass pyramid controversially comissioned by President Mitterand in 1984.
Transport to the Louvre
