What the Louvre is and where it stands
The Louvre Museum is in Paris, the capital of France. It occupies the Louvre Palace on the bank of the Seine. The French name is pronounced /luvʁ/. A Turkish speaker would say roughly “Luvr”.
The building did not start as an art gallery. Under King Philip II, in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, it was a defensive fortress.
The French Revolution turned it into a museum. On 10 August 1793, the Louvre opened with an exhibition of 537 paintings. Today its online Collections database holds records for more than 500,000 works from the Louvre and the Eugène-Delacroix museum.
Timeline
- Late 12th–early 13th century: The Louvre fortress is built under Philip II.
- 10 August 1793: The Louvre opens as a museum showing 537 paintings.
- 1820: The Venus de Milo is found on the island of Milos.
- March 1821: The Venus de Milo is donated to the Louvre.
- 1863: The Winged Victory of Samothrace is found.
- 21 August 1911: The Mona Lisa is stolen from the Louvre.
- 29 March 1989: The Louvre Pyramid opens.
- 11 November 2017: Louvre Abu Dhabi opens to the public.
- 19 October 2025: Thieves strike the Apollo Gallery.
Louvre tickets: price and who pays what
This is the question most visitors ask first. As of 25 October 2026, the standard entry fee is 22 euros for citizens or residents of the European Economic Area (EEA). It is 32 euros for visitors who meet neither condition. If you travel from Türkiye, you will normally be in the second group.
Some visitors pay nothing:
- Anyone under 18.
- EEA citizens or residents under 26.
- Everyone, on the first Friday of each month after 18:00. July and August are excluded.
- Everyone, on 14 July.
Free entry does not mean you can just turn up. The Louvre recommends that free visitors also reserve a time slot. From 17 October to 1 November 2026, reservation is compulsory for all visitors except certain exempt groups. Think of it like a cinema seat on a busy Saturday night: the ticket matters less than the booked slot.
One extra is easy to miss. Your Louvre ticket also admits you to the Eugène-Delacroix National Museum, on the same day or the next day.
Louvre official website and safe booking
The official ticket and time-slot address is https://ticket.louvre.fr/en. The museum’s main site is louvre.fr. Book only there.
The Louvre itself warns about three sources: mirror sites, tickets that claim to let you skip the line, and street vendors. Tickets from any of them can lead to refused entry. If a price or a promise looks better than the official page, treat it as a warning sign.
Opening hours and entry rules
As of 25 October 2026, the museum is closed on Tuesdays. Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday it is open 09:00–18:00. Wednesday and Friday it is open 09:00–21:00.
Two timing rules matter:
- The last entry is one hour before closing.
- Rooms start to empty 30 minutes before closing.
So a Monday visitor who arrives at 17:00 gets almost no time. Come in the morning, or choose a late-opening Wednesday or Friday.
Exit is final. You cannot re-enter on the same ticket, so eat and rest before you go in.
Louvre Pyramid and how to get there
The Pyramid is the main entrance for individual visitors. Architect I. M. Pei designed it, and it opened on 29 March 1989 after four years of work. Another entrance open to ticket holders is the Carrousel, at 99 Rue de Rivoli.
By metro, you have two options:
- Lines 1 and 7 to Palais-Royal–Musée du Louvre.
- Line 14 to Pyramides.
Both stations are on the Paris metro. The first has two lines; the second has one.
Where is the Mona Lisa?
Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Lisa Gherardini hangs in room 711, the Salle des États. That is on the first floor of the Denon wing. Opposite it hangs Veronese’s The Wedding Feast at Cana, which is the largest painting in the Louvre. It is more than 6 metres high and about 10 metres wide.
The Mona Lisa is painted on a poplar panel, not on canvas. Wood reacts to heat and damp. For that reason the painting sits in a protective glass case with controlled temperature and humidity. That is why you see a sealed box, not an open frame.
If the crowd feels thick, remember the picture’s history. It was stolen on 21 August 1911. More than two years later, it was found when Vincenzo Peruggia tried to sell it in Italy.
Other must-see masterpieces
The Louvre is too large to see in one visit. Pick a short list and learn the room numbers first.
- Venus de Milo. Found on Milos in 1820 and given to the Louvre in March 1821. It stands in room 344, Sully wing, ground floor.
- Winged Victory of Samothrace. Found on Samothrace in 1863 and dated to 200–175 BC. It is in room 703, Denon wing, first floor.
- Code of Hammurabi. This black basalt block is more than 2.25 metres tall. It carries 282 legal provisions written around 1750 BC.
- Liberty Leading the People. Eugène Delacroix painted it in 1830. It measures 260 × 325 centimetres.
- Egyptian mummy of a man. It dates to 332–30 BC, is 166 centimetres long and carries inventory number N 2627. Look for it in room 322, Sully wing, ground floor.
The Venus and the mummy are on the same floor of the same wing, so you can see both in one stretch. The Winged Victory and the Mona Lisa are both on the first floor of the Denon wing, so you can pair those two.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
- Remains of the medieval fortress survive in the museum’s basement. You can walk past the walls that Philip II’s builders raised.
- The Mona Lisa’s case exists because of its wooden panel, not only because of its fame.
- Your ticket works twice. It covers the Eugène-Delacroix museum on the same day or the next.
- The Collections database lets you search more than 500,000 records before you travel. You can check a work’s room number before you plan your route.
- The official virtual tour page offers online visits to Petite Galerie exhibitions, such as The Advent of the Artist and Power Plays. That is useful if you want a preview.
Louvre heist and robbery: what happened in 2025
People searching for the “Louvre heist” or “Louvre robbery” usually mean the events of 19 October 2025. On that day, thieves targeted two high-security display cases in the Apollo Gallery. Eight historic jewel pieces were stolen.
On 21 October 2025, INTERPOL reported that the crown of Empress Eugénie had been found at the scene. It also added the remaining stolen pieces to its Stolen Works of Art database.
The earlier theft, in 1911, involved a single painting. The 2025 case involved jewellery. Both show why the museum guards its collections closely.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is a different museum
Some people searching for “Louvre Abu Dhabi” expect the Paris museum. It is not the same. Designed by Jean Nouvel, it opened on Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates on 11 November 2017. It is a separate museum.
For Paris, use the addresses in this guide. For Abu Dhabi, use that museum’s own channels.
FAQ
How much do Louvre tickets cost?
As of 25 October 2026, the standard ticket is 22 euros for citizens or residents of the European Economic Area and 32 euros for visitors who are neither. Visitors under 18 enter free. So do visitors under 26 who are EEA citizens or residents.
Where do I buy official Louvre tickets?
Use the museum’s own booking page at https://ticket.louvre.fr/en. The Louvre warns that tickets from mirror sites, from sellers promising to skip the line and from street vendors can lead to refused entry.
Where is the Mona Lisa in the Louvre?
It hangs in room 711, the Salle des États, on the first floor of the Denon wing.
Is the Louvre Abu Dhabi the same museum?
No. Louvre Abu Dhabi is a separate museum designed by Jean Nouvel. It opened on Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates on 11 November 2017. A Paris ticket does not cover it.
Can I leave the Louvre and come back later?
No. Exit is final, and you cannot re-enter on the same ticket. Plan meals and breaks before you go in.
Sources
- Musée du Louvre — Hours & admission louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — Visiter louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — Map, entrances & directions louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — A pyramid for a symbol louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — From the Mona Lisa to The Wedding Feast at Cana louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — Ideal Greek Beauty louvre.fr
- Louvre Collections — Victoire de Samothrace collections.louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — The Code of Hammurabi louvre.fr
- Louvre Collections — La Liberté guidant le peuple collections.louvre.fr
- Louvre Collections — Momie d’homme collections.louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — Virtual tours louvre.fr
- Louvre Collections — Les collections du Louvre collections.louvre.fr
- Musée du Louvre — Statement on the 19 October 2025 theft presse.louvre.fr
- INTERPOL — Louvre Museum theft interpol.int
- Musée du Louvre — Louvre Abu Dhabi opens to the public presse.louvre.fr
- Wikipedia — Louvre en.wikipedia.org
- Vikipedi — Louvre Müzesi tr.wikipedia.org
Image: Cour Napoléon at night – Louvre.jpg — Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY 2.5
