Astounding Louvre Museum Facts Which Make It World-Famous

The Louvre is the biggest museum in the world

Spread across 731,945 sqft. (80,000 sqm), Louvre Museum contains more than 380000 pieces of artwork. Such is the vastness of the Museum that you cannot view the entire display of art in one visit. It is believed that one may take 100 days for a complete museum tour and cover all the antics. The calculation is simply hypothetically considering 30 seconds of your time for each artwork, without taking any break in 24 hours, which is a rather impossible deed.

Louvre Museum is older than many countries

The Louvre has existed for eight centuries. The structure was originally built in the 12^th century by King Phillip August, who declared Paris as his new capital with Louvre being its centralized building. The oldest artwork in the museum is 9000 years old and dates back to the 7^th century B.C.

The structure was not a museum formerly

The museum was formerly a fortress built by Philip II in the 12^th century. The main purpose to build a fortress was to basically provide shelter from a probably English invasion. Later in the 16^th century, it was turned into a royal palace and in 1793, the structure deemed as a museum was opened to the public with just around 537 paintings. The Louvre was also once home to many famous kings including Charles V, Francois I, to name a few.

The Museum was renamed during Napoleon’s reign

When Napoleon came to rule, he renamed the Museum to ‘Musee Napoleon’. During his reign, the collection of artefacts was increased by approximately 5000 paintings. However, they were returned to their owners, post the cease of Napoleon’s time in power. It was said that during Napoleon’s rule, the Mona Lisa, one of the most valuable paintings of the museum, was hung in his private bedroom. It was also the first time when Mona Lisa was ever hung. The famous painting of the Mona Lisa, which was stolen in 1911 and then later returned to the Museum, is currently shielded with a glass frame that is bulletproof and moreover has armed bodyguards.

The majority of the paintings in the museum are a work of French artists

The museum is home to some great artworks from across Europe. It boasts a massive collection of about 7,500 paintings on display. Of which, 66% of the paintings are crafted by French artists. Interestingly, 25% of all Leonardo Da Vinci paintings are displayed in the Louvre.

During World War II the museum was put to use as a storeroom

The Nazis during World War II raided and looted houses and businesses, collecting artworks from across the country. These stolen pieces of art were put in the museum emptying what the museum initially had. Over 4000 artworks were displaced from the museum during World War II.

It is the most visited museum on the planet

The year 2018 reported 10.2 million visitors to Louvre. The surge of visitors could be attributed because of a music video made in the museum by Jay-Z and Beyoncé. However, one cannot take off the credit of the museum being the most visited on Earth. Roughly 15,000 visitors throng the museum each day and 70% of the visitors are foreign nationals.

There is another Louvre to its name

Louvre is not the only museum in the world. Lens Louvre, which is an addition to the Louvre Museum, was opened in 2012 in Lens. The intent to create another Louvre was basically to reduce the crowd in Paris and also add some economic strength to Lens. Moreover, in 2017, another Louvre came into existence in Abu Dhabi. The Louvre Museum has leased its artwork to Louvre Abu Dhabi in a leased agreement amounting to billions of dollars. The pyramid-shaped architecture of the famous Louvre museum is distinct in Abu Dhabi which is a dome-shaped structure.

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The pyramid design of the Louvre is not credited to France

The pyramid design of the famous Louvre museum has been designed by the Chinese-American architect Leoh Ming Pei. The increasing crowd to the museum called for its expansion and thus Pei was invited by President Francois Mitterrand to redesign it in 1989. Similar to the Eiffel Tower, the museum design was not accepted by scholars and preservationists of the time and hence the museum wasn’t very popular in the beginning. However, the pyramid design has now turned to be the emblem of the city and has become a pride of Paris.

The Museum is believed to be haunted

Louvre Museum Staff and visitors have reportedly witnessed ghostly figures wandering across the halls. These include a Roman soldier, a German officer from World War II, a painter and a beautiful young influencer. It is also believed that a mummy named Belphegor is sighted in the museum. The Tuileries Gardens nearby Louvre is also assumed to be haunted by a red-dressed man.

These interesting facts are sure to cause a stir among readers. Knowing a few specifics of the place before you visit and witness them definitely adds the passion to know more or build on the truths already attained. Additionally, it increases the excitement quotient.