Louvre Palace

1st arrondissement of Paris, France

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Wheelchair access: Accessible
Phone: +33 1 40205050

From OpenStreetMap — confirm before travelling

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The Louvre Palace, located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, began as a defensive castle around 1190, built to guard the western front of Philip II Augustus's new city wall. Originally serving intermittently as a royal residence between the 14th and 18th centuries, it underwent radical transformation starting in the late 1540s when Francis I commissioned the replacement of the medieval fortress with a palatial complex inspired by classical antiquity and Italian Renaissance architecture. The oldest standing section, the Lescot Wing, dates from this Renaissance redesign. Successive architects—including Pierre Lescot, Louis Le Vau, Jacques Lemercier, and Hector-Martin Lefuel—shaped the palace through the 17th and 19th centuries in styles ranging from French Renaissance to Baroque and Second Empire Neoclassicism. In the late 20th century, the Grand Louvre project expanded the complex with I. M. Pei's modern glass pyramid in the Cour Napoléon courtyard. Today, the palace is primarily occupied by the Louvre Museum, which opened in 1793 and occupies the space between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois.