---
node: spot_paris_louvre
type: spot
slug: louvre
destination: dest_paris
title: "Louvre Museum"
lead: "The Louvre is the world's most visited museum, holding 35,000 works in a palace that was a fortress in 1190 and a royal residence until Louis XIV left for Versailles. Pei's glass pyramid has been its entrance since 1989."
published: 2026-08-12
updated: 2026-08-12
image_file: spot_paris_louvre.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louvre_Museum_Wikimedia_Commons.jpg"
image_author: "Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr)"
image_license: "CC BY-SA 3.0"
---

## Overview

Eight departments run from Mesopotamia and Egypt to European painting up to 1848, after which the collection continues at the Musée d'Orsay. The building is itself the exhibit: medieval foundations are visible in the basement, and the Cour Carrée is four centuries of French architecture in one courtyard. Nobody sees it all — the galleries run 15 kilometres.

## Highlights

Pick two wings and accept the rest; the Denon wing holds the Mona Lisa and Italian painting, Richelieu the French and Northern schools. Enter by the Carrousel du Louvre or the Porte des Lions to skip the pyramid queue. Wednesday and Friday evenings are open late and are the quietest hours of the week.