The Louvre: the story of a palace turned into a museum

Archaeological digs have shown traces of hunter-gatherers in the area long before Paris took shape. The site quickly became central to the capital's growth. King Philippe-Auguste (1165-1223) erected a fortress here, with a keep and a square enclosure, intended to reinforce the city wall. The original ditches are still visible inside the Carrousel du Louvre.

Between 1364 and 1380, Charles V (1338-1380) commissioned a transformation of the Louvre, with the architect Raymond du Temple. The military fort gave way to a more comfortable residence, with apartments, leisure spaces and a royal library that would later become the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Wars, including the Hundred Years' War, eventually pushed nobility toward the Loire châteaux, leaving the Louvre behind.

While the court resided at Versailles, the palace welcomed artists, intellectuals and noblemen. They suggested turning the building into a museum, an idea Louis XVI embraced. The French Revolution accelerated the project, and the Grand Gallery opened to the public, displaying works from the royal collections, enriched by confiscations, military campaigns and private donations.

Under Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the museum took on new ambition with the help of its first director, Dominique-Vivant Denon (1747-1825). Charles X (1757-1836) later added a new gallery along the Rue de Rivoli and inaugurated the Greek and Egyptian Antiquities departments under the Charles X Museum. The Second Empire shaped the silhouette we recognize today, with the buildings around the Cour Napoléon.

• First fortifications: built under Philippe-Auguste (1165-1223)
• Major royal renovations: Charles V (1364-1380), François I, Henri IV, Louis XIV
• Pyramid and Grand Louvre: project led by Ieoh Ming Pei from 1981
• Extime Travel tip: descend to the Carrousel du Louvre to see the medieval foundations preserved beneath the museum