Louvre
A royal palace turned into the world’s most visited museum, with the glass pyramid in its courtyard.
Photo: Benh LIEU SONG (Flickr), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Louvre began as a fortress around 1200, became the palace of the kings of France and, after the Revolution, a museum, opened in 1793. It holds the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
In 1989 I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid became its new entrance, controversial at first, now one of the sights of Paris itself. Visit it in 3D ›
Famous art here
Mona LisaLeonardo da Vinci, c. 1503–1519
The Wedding at CanaPaolo Veronese, 1563
The Raft of the MedusaThéodore Géricault, 1818–1819
Liberty Leading the PeopleEugène Delacroix, 1830
Venus de MiloProbably Alexandros of Antioch, c. 150–125 BC
Winged Victory of SamothraceUnknown Greek sculptor, c. 190 BC
The Virgin of the RocksLeonardo da Vinci, c. 1483–1486
The Oath of the HoratiiJacques-Louis David, 1784
La Grande OdalisqueJean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, 1814
The Coronation of NapoleonJacques-Louis David, 1805–1807
More in Paris
Eiffel TowerGustave Eiffel’s iron tower on the Champ de Mars, built for the World’s Fair of 1889 and the symbol of Paris ever since.
Notre-DameThe Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, begun in 1163 and open again since the fire of 2019.
Sainte-ChapelleLouis IX’s royal chapel of 1248, its walls almost all stained glass.
Pont NeufThe “new bridge”, which is in fact the oldest bridge still standing across the Seine in Paris.
Hôtel de VilleThe city hall of Paris, on this spot since 1357 and rebuilt after the Commune burned it in 1871.
ConciergerieA medieval royal palace on the island, later the prison where Marie-Antoinette awaited the guillotine.
Tour Saint-JacquesA lone Gothic bell tower, all that remains of a church on the pilgrims’ road to Santiago.
Centre PompidouThe museum of modern art with its pipes, ducts and escalators on the outside, opened in 1977.
BouquinistesThe green boxes of second-hand booksellers along the quays of the Seine.
Métro entrancesThe green Art Nouveau entrances of the Paris Métro, drawn by Hector Guimard around 1900.
Bateaux-mouchesThe sightseeing boats that glide up and down the Seine, past Notre-Dame and under the bridges.
CroissantThe flaky, buttery crescent of a Paris breakfast, from the boulangerie on every corner.