Europe Tours

Centrally located on the Right Bank of the Seine River in the 1st arrondissement, The Louvre Museum is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the world; it is the single most frequently visited museum on earth, and for good reason. Its incredibly history and architecture house among the most famous of artworks from pre-history to the 19th century A.D. Its mind-boggling collection of 35,000 pieces includes such notable works as the sculpture, Venus de Milo, and paintings the likes of Davinci’s Mona Lisa, Vermeer’s The Lacemaker, and Rembrandt’s Bathsheba at Her Bath.

Famous paintings are not the only reason to visit The Louvre. Tens of thousands of works by equally and lesser know artists are on display, and this encapsulates a microcosmic history of the western civilization, on a visual level. The building itself is a historic former palace and fortress that was erected in the late 1100s; the remnants of the fortress walls can still be seen in the basement level. And it was the royal family’s residence until, during the French Revolution in 1792; Louis XVI was imprisoned at that time and the treasures of The Louvre were declared national property. The museum officially opened a year later, August 1793.

The Louvre houses 8 main departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; and Pints and Drawings. In 1989 the somewhat controversial renovations, high-impact, ultra-modern glass pyramids, designed by architect I. M. Pei, opened to the public and since then attendance has doubled. The Louvre is a must-see on any trip to Paris.