it is often called, is not only the largest museum in France, it is also the most visited

museum in the whole world. The museum houses several pieces of art which are renown all

over the world, the most famous one being Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.

While today's Louvre serves a huge museum, it has gone through several different phases

throughout the history. The known history of the Louvre started as early as year 1190,

when king Filip II built a fortress on the site to protect Paris from Viking raiders.

The remains of this fortress can actually still be seen in the Louvre crypt. During

the 14th century, Charles V converted the fortress into a royal residence and later

in 1546, Francis I had the whole site renovated into the French Renaissance style you can

see today. Francis I is by many seen as the founder of the modern Louvre, as he not only

renovated the site, but also acquired the Louvres center piece; the Mona Lisa. If you

take a look next to the main entrance to Pavillon Sully, you will see an inscription on either

side. The left one says that in 1541, Francis began the construction of the modern Louvre.

Underneath you can read that Catherine de Médicis, wife to Francis second son, founded

the Tuileries Palace in 1564. The inscription on the right side tells you that Napoleon

III united the Louvre with the Tuileries between year 1852 and 1857. The Tuileries Palace was

standing behind the large arc, which now forms the entrance to the Louvre, and looked very

similar to the Louvre buildings of today. The palace was at this time connected to the

Louvre, so the courtyard you are now standing in used to be an enclosed space. The Tuileries

Palace was later burned and destroyed during the reign of the Paris Commune in late 19th

century. But let's not get ahead of things. When did the Louvre begin to serve as a museum

instead of a royal residence? Well, during the reign of Louis XIV, the construction

and expansion of the Louvre was slowed down, as Louis moved his court from the Louvre to

Versailles in late 17th century. Instead of housing the royal court, the Louvre began

to serve more as a museum and as a residence for artists. The museum was however still

very much closed to the general public. By the mid 18th century, more and more voices

were calling for a public gallery within the Louvre. Louis XV soon agreed on this matter

and displayed of some of the royal collection in the Louvre for the public. With this, the

idea of a national museum was born. However, none of the many offers, suggesting that the

Louvre would be turned into a museum, was agreed upon by the king.

After the French Revolution in the end of the 18th century, the newly constituted National

Assembly decided that the Louvre should serve as a public museum and display the nation's

masterpieces. The museum was opened for the public in 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings,

the majority of the works being confiscated church and royal property. With the opening

of the public museum, the modern Louvre as we now know it was born.

As noted before, the architectural style of the Louvre is typical French Renaissance.

By looking at the outside of the Louvre, you will see that it is covered in magnificent

sculptures. Above the first level, you can see row of statues that goes all along the

front facade the Louvre. These are statues of noted French scholars and other academics

that played a part in the French history. While the Louvre buildings themselves are

impressive, there are some other features worth mentioning. One of them is the arch

that marks the entrance to the Louvre. This arc, built in early 19th century, is called

"Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel". The arc was, just like its famous big brother, built in

honor of Napoleon Bonaparte's military victories. While it is only half the size of the Arc

du Triomphe, it is still an impressive sight. Another main feature of the Louvre is of course

the glass pyramid. The pyramid was designed by the American-Japanese architect Ieoh Ming

Pei on order by the French President François Mitterrand. In 1983, Mitterrand arranged an

architectural competition for a grand renovation of the Louvre, where one of the main objectives

was to create a new entrance into the Louvre. Pei´s winning entry is a smart construction.

It creates a new entrance to the Louvre while at the same time not blocking the view to

the main buildings due to its glass structure. It did however cause a lot of controversy

when it was introduced, as its modern look is very different compared to its surrounding

Renaissance buildings. The origin of the name, "Louvre", is somewhat

uncertain. Some believe it refers to the structure's status as the largest building in late 12th

century Paris, as the French word for "masterpiece" is "chef d'oeuvre". Being the worlds most

visited museum, the Louvre receives around 15.000 visitors per day, so expect some crowds.

The crowds usually aren't terrifying though, as Musée du Louvre has so many objects and

covers such a large area. It is absolutely huge. It covers more than 60,000 square meters

and holds more than 380,000 objects, so if you can forget about doing the whole Louvre

in one afternoon. Through out the years, the museum has been

the location for several major events and to an extent it still is today. For example,

more recently the museum played a key part in the famous book "The Da Vinci code". Today,

the Louvre and its surroundings has become an icon of Paris and it is loved by almost

all who visited it.