Louvre Museum

The Louvre, or the Louvre Museum, is the biggest art museum in the world, located in Paris, France, and is also a historic monument. A city’s main landmark, it is situated in the 1st district of the town on the Right Bank of the Seine.

It houses over 380,000 artifacts, while only 35,000 are offered on display.

Quick facts

• Name: Louvre Museum
• Location: Paris, France
• Built 1793
• Type of attraction: Architectural/Museum
• Ticket price: From $20

World famous Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is displayed here and there are hundreds of visitors flocking in front of this paining every day.

Louvre is massive museum, and with its eight departments of various art collections is the place where people are coming back on every visit to Paris.

Here are some highlights:

The Louvre Pyramid

François Mitterrand, France’s then president, ordered the Louvre pyramid to be built in 1984. Famous Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed it and it was finished in 1989. There are more than 600 rhombus-shaped and 70 triangular glass parts in the 70-foot-tall glass pyramid. The pyramid’s design was mocked when it was originally unveiled, yet without it, the Louvre would be a much different place.

Mona Lisa

A portrait of the Mona Lisa can be found in the Louvre’s Department of Italian Paintings, which houses this world’s most famous artwork (among many others). A Florence cloth merchant’s wife named Lisa Gherardini is likely to be the subject of the picture.

Venus de Milo

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, is shown in this 6’8″ marble sculpture. As a result of its discovery on the Greek island of Milos, the statue was given the name Milos. Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities houses the statue.

Liberty Leading the People

An 1830 picture depicts a lady personifying Liberty leading crowds over barriers while the dead and wounded lie beneath her. She carries the French Revolution banner, which is now the country’s flag, in one hand, and a bayoneted musket in the other.

Hammurabi’s Code

The Law Codey of Hammurabi, a Babylonian code of law from Mesopotamia, dates all the way back to 1800 BC. Over 200 laws are etched on the Law Code, which is on display in the Department of Near Eastern Antiquities. We can learn a lot about ancient Near Eastern history and religion from Hammurabi’s Law Code.

Great Sphinx of Tanis

The sphinx in Egypt symbolizes the intimate relationship between the sun god (embodied by a lion) and the ruler, and (human head). Pharaoh Ammenemes II, Merneptah, and Shoshenq are all mentioned on the one in the Louvre. It is one of the greatest sphinxes outside of Egypt and was discovered in 1825 within the remains of Tanis’ Temple of Amun.

Interesting facts about Louvre Museum

Here are some interesting facts about the museum:

• Louvre is visited on average by 25,000 tourists a day.
• The Museum is divided into eight departments: Near Eastern Antiquities, Egyptian Antiquities, Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities, Islamic Art, Sculptures, Decorative Arts, Paintings, and Prints and Drawings.
• There are two Louvre Museums: one in Paris and another in Abu Dhabi

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