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  2. Europe 2022

Paris - Louvre Architecture

The Louvre Museum was established in 1793, but the Louvre Palace itself began in 1190 as a castle. Most of the current building was constructed in the 17th and 19th centuries. With 2,260,421 sq ft of floor space, the Louvre is the largest palace in France, and one of the largest in the world.
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The Louvre courtyard, seen from one of the museum's windows. In the background is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, one of Paris's four triumphal arches.
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The Louvre courtyard, seen from one of the museum's windows. In the background is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, one of Paris's four triumphal arches.

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  • Front of the Louvre, seen from Place du Carrousel. The glass pyramid was built in 1988, to alleviate congestion at the museum's entrance by routing visitors through a large underground lobby and mall area. At the center of the garden circle is the large square top of an inverted glass pyramid, which acts as a skylight and architectural feature for the Carrousel mall below.
  • Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, in front of the Louvre. One of four triumphal arches in Paris.
  • Louvre Pyramid, backlit by the morning sun.
  • The queue to enter the Louvre. It moved pretty quickly, unlike the line at the Eiffel Tower. Through the pyramid's doors is a security checkpoint, and an escalator down to a vast underground lobby.
  • Louvre Pyramid, looking straight up.
  • Inverted Pyramid at the Louvre, beneath the Place du Carrousel. Surrounding this skylight on the ground level is a circular garden and a large 3-lane traffic circle.
  • The Louvre courtyard, seen from one of the museum's windows.
  • The Louvre courtyard, seen from one of the museum's windows. In the background is the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, one of Paris's four triumphal arches.
  • Pavillon Turgot, on the northwest corner of the Louvre.
  • Southwest corner of the Louvre, with the Eiffel Tower in the distance.
  • View past the southern wing of the Louvre, toward the domed Panthéon mausoleum in the distance. Seen from atop the Grande Roue De Paris ferris wheel. Housed in the Panthéon is a replica of Léon Foucault's pendulum, which consisted of a 62 lb brass-coasted lead bob hanging on a 220 ft wire from the Panthéon's domed ceiling. Foucault installed his pendulum in 1851 to demonstrate Earth's rotation.
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