Louvre Tours & Tickets

The Louvre was originally built as a royal fortress in the 12th century, then converted into a palace by Francis I before becoming a museum during the French Revolution.

The Mona Lisa is so famous that it spends most of its time behind bulletproof glass in a climate-controlled case, and viewing it often means joining crowds of 10,000+ daily visitors.

The museum's iconic glass pyramid entrance, designed by I.M. Pei and completed in 1989, was initially controversial but is now considered an architectural masterpiece.

The Louvre is the world's largest art museum by gallery area, spanning 782,910 square feet across eight departments including Egyptian antiquities, Islamic art, and European paintings.

You can visit the Louvre Palace's underground medieval fortress remains in the basement, preserved to show the original 12th-century keep built by Philip II.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace, one of the most photographed Greek sculptures, sits at the top of the Daru staircase and was deliberately placed there for dramatic impact in 1884.