The Museum of the Louvre Paris : Paris Tourism

99, rue de Rivoli 75001 Paris Timetable: Museum: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. 9 a.m. - 9.45 p.m. on monday and wednesday (Richelieu part) Closes on tuesday and on some public holidays Pyramide: 9 a.m. - 10 p.m Originally a medieval castle, later house of the French Kings, then Royal Art Gallery, the palace of the Louvre is marked by Historical events and the mass of architects and decorators who desired to leave their mark. A fortress, whose ruins have recently been discovered, was erected on order of Philippe-Auguste in the end of the Thirteenth Century. Nowadays, the architectural underground structures are included in the guided tours. After the destruction of the donjon, Francois the First decided to make a Renaissance style palace out of the castle. At the same time Catherine de Medicis started her project of the “Tuileries”. The “Grand Dessein” of Henry IV consisted of unifying the Louvre and the Tuileries into a gigantic palace by multiplying by four the surface of the Cour Carrée. The palace knew its period of prosperity under the reign of King Louis XIV. It was ornamented with the Horologe de Le Mercier, the gallery of Apollon de Le Vau and Le Brun, the colonnade of Perrault, and the achievement of the Cour Carrée. But Versailles was chosen to be the centre of power and the Louvre was no longer of first interest. Nevertheless the place regained popularity with the opening of the Museum in the Grande Galerie. It was in 1793, under the Second Empire, that the Louvre became a museum. Despite the will of the leaders, the project of the Grand Dessein had to be aborted as the castle of the Tuileries burnt down in 1871…