Pyramid of the Louvre. Pyramids of France

Pyramid of the Louvre (France) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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The glass pyramid of impressive size, which flaunts in Napoleon's courtyard, in the very heart of the Louvre, is one of the most recognizable symbols of Paris and France. It would seem that it has always been here, but no: if the luxurious Royal Palace took almost 1000 years to build, the sparkling Egyptian-like structure was erected relatively recently, in 1989.

The Louvre pyramid consists of 70 triangular and 603 diamond-shaped segments (thickness - 21 mm) and weighs about 180 tons. The height of the structure is 21.65 m, the angle of inclination of the faces is 52 °, the length of each side of the base is 35 m. There are fountains and small pyramids acting as portholes. Enough light penetrates through the glass sides to illuminate the underground lobby with ticket offices, information stands and entrances to the main areas of the museum.

Story

Today the Louvre is one of the largest and richest museums on the planet, a record holder for popularity and variety of exhibitions. President François Mitterrand, who initiated the transformation of the national treasury into a legend on a global scale, is largely to thank for this. American architect Bei Yuming was inspired by the Cheops pyramid and came up with an original glass structure that became the main entrance to the Louvre and the beginning of the Triumphal Route through the Champs-Elysees.

Particularly suspicious individuals believe that Freemasons were involved in the creation of the pyramid. And Dan Brown in his “Da Vinci Code” actually “hid” the Holy Grail under it.

The bold architectural solution was initially criticized: a strange transparent block in the middle of the solemn walls - unprecedented audacity! But it soon became clear that the pyramid did not spoil it at all, but, on the contrary, harmoniously complemented the ensemble. But the lamps installed along the inner perimeter by lighting designer Claude Engle were eventually replaced with metal halides, which provide noble, cool lighting.

Practical information

Address: Paris, Palais Royal, Musee du Louvre, 75001.

How to get to the Louvre for free? We tell you in this video:

What is hidden in the word "Louvre"? This is a medieval fortress, a luxurious residence of French rulers, and a repository of bloody secrets; an action scene where treacherous intrigues were woven and love stories of the royal court unfolded. This is both a medieval treasury and the largest museum in Europe, where the best masterpieces of world art are located. This is home to the ghost of Belphegor and the incomprehensible Mona Lisa. This is a place where layers of time intertwine: the almost thousand-year history of the construction of the building has left traces on it. Only here you can pass through a modern glass pyramid and find yourself in a palace from the Classical era, and literally after a few tens of meters you can go down into the cellars that have been preserved from a medieval castle. But let's tell the story of the Louvre in order. So, at the end of the 12th century, Philip Augustus, preparing for the Crusade, was concerned about the protection of his property. He ordered the construction of a fortress wall. One of the towers was named Louvre. It was opposite it that a high fortress of white stone was built, which became the treasury of Philip Augustus. On the lower floors of the Louvre, the remains of the fortress are still preserved; if you wish, you can touch the first stones that laid the foundation for future splendor. However, at that time the king himself never lived in the fortress, and the Louvre had yet to become a symbol of royal power. Paris flourished and grew, and almost two hundred years later, in 1356, an earthen rampart was built, far removed from the previous border. The Louvre was no longer an important defensive structure. But the fortress attracted the attention of Charles V. In 1364, the architect Raymond du Temple began work on transforming the fortress into a residence for the king. Crenellated towers were built, extensions and individual outbuildings were rebuilt into halls with huge windows, connected by external staircases. In the Book Tower, Charles V the Wise built a library that consisted of 900 volumes. But the brief era of prosperity did not last long. When his son Charles VI left the Louvre, the fortress fell asleep. Francis I awakened the Louvre and breathed new life into it. This monarch brought the Renaissance to France from his campaigns. Is it any wonder that, on his instructions, the talented architect Pierre Lescot completely rebuilt the fortress, demolishing the Great Tower and erecting a Renaissance-style palace in its place. Catherine the Bloody Medici, in her characteristic harsh manner, demanded that the palace be completely rebuilt. And in 1564, construction began on the Tuileries, almost half a kilometer west of the Louvre. 46 years later, already under Henry IV, the Louvre and the Tuileries were connected by a grandiose building - the Grand Gallery, the length of which is 442 meters. During the reign of Louis XIII, Car Carais was built, which became four times larger than the previous residence. And in 1624 the famous Clock Tower was erected. In the second half of the 17th century, two new wings appeared, which closed the huge courtyard of the Louvre. The idea of ​​turning the Louvre into a museum was born under Louis XV, but only came to fruition after the revolution. And in 1793, the doors of the Napoleon Museum were opened to visitors for the first time. During the Napoleonic Wars, the museum's collection expanded incredibly with war trophies. François Mitterrand began a new, modern stage of transformation of the Louvre in 1989. It began with the appearance of an unusual glass pyramid, which was designed by the Chinese-American architect Yo Ming Pei. With her appearance, the number of visitors to the Louvre doubled. Everything was collected in the Louvre; this museum can be called universal. His collections cover vast geographical and temporal spaces. Let's go through the departments. Formed in 1881, the Department of the Ancient East contains a rich collection of monuments and objects made of gold, silver, bronze and clay, which are a reflection of the culture of the most ancient civilizations of the Middle East. The oldest of them dates back to 6,000 BC. By order of the monarch Charles X, the Department of Ancient Egypt was formed in 1826. It was headed by Jean-François Champollion, the famous Egyptologist who revealed the secret of hieroglyphs. The collection is based on finds obtained during Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in 1798. The collection of Ancient Egypt in the Louvre is considered the most valuable in the world, numbering more than 50 thousand exhibits, housed in 20 rooms. Ancient Greece, Rome and the Etruscans This department was previously known as the Museum of Antiquity, opened in 1800. At that time, the collection of archaeological finds was located in the Louvre in the chambers of Anne of Austria. The collection was based on antique monuments acquired by French monarchs in the 16th-17th centuries. The works presented here cover a broad period of development of Greek, Roman and Etruscan civilizations from the 4th millennium BC to the 6th century AD. The painting department is the largest exhibition of the Louvre. It occupies most of this museum complex, located on the 2nd and 3rd floors. The initial collection was part of the picture gallery of Francis I, which was significantly enlarged by Louis XIV. The art department of the Louvre was opened in 1794. The Louvre's collection of fine art includes about 6 thousand works created by European masters from the 13th century to 1848. A wide variety of paintings are collected here, differing in format, technique and style of execution. The Louvre's Department of Decorative and Applied Arts was founded in 1893. The exhibits on display came here from different parts of France: from churches and imperial palaces, from a special repository of state valuables and private museums of famous collectors. The magnificent collection of decorative and applied arts includes samples of tapestries, luxurious pieces of furniture and interior decoration, ceramics, and jewelry. It also houses numerous sculptural works, including the famous equestrian statue of Charlemagne. There are 81 exhibition halls in this department. The collection of sculptural art objects in the Louvre began to form in 1817. This department presents works created before 1850. According to the organizers of the exhibition, it is divided into two exhibition spaces - the French collection and foreign sculptures. Art of Islam - Arts de The Department of Islamic Art is the youngest department of the Louvre. It was opened in 2003. Under an unusual glass roof, about 3 thousand exhibits are exhibited, representing the cultural heritage of the Islamic civilization, which stretched from Andalusia to India, from its origins in the 7th century to the 18th century. Here you can see various examples of decorative finishing and processing of materials - carpets, stone objects, ivory products, ceramics, artificial marble ornaments, metal forging and wood carvings, paintings. The Louvre's graphic arts department was opened in 1797. The core of this collection consists of objects stored in the Royal Cabinet, which has been in the Louvre since its founding. Works of Western art include about 126 thousand exhibits made on paper from the 14th to the beginning of the 20th century. Basically, they are stored in albums or diaries. In addition to the traditional graphic drawing technique, there is watercolor, gouache, pastel and large-format images on cardboard. In April 2000, in the Louvre, with the participation of French President Jacques Chirac, the grand opening of a pavilion dedicated to the culture and art of Asia, Africa, Oceania and America took place. This department exhibits 120 unusual sculptures, selected by the remarkable specialist in primitive arts, Jacques Kerchache. Most of the items came to the Louvre from French state collections. The Louvre is an eternally young, living palace-museum. The tradition of constantly adding to it and making changes to keep up with the times has been preserved by the French to this day. At the same time, the atmosphere of past centuries is carefully preserved, and due to the museum’s collections of antiquity, one gets the feeling that the Louvre is the custodian of not only French, but also the entire world history. And, of course, you want to at least once stroll through its courtyards, walk through a glass pyramid, wander through medieval cellars, enjoy the tickling feeling caused by touching the secrets of antiquity, be captivated by the magnificent splendor of the Renaissance and pay tribute to the strict and majestic lines of the Classical era - everyone is in the Louvre will find that piece of history that will be close to him. And all this for just 9 euros.

The glass pyramid of the Louvre is as much a hallmark of Paris and France as the Eiffel Tower, the Seine embankment, the Champs Elysees and Versailles. Even at the construction stage, the building became the subject of heated debate and public discontent.

Supporters of the project, authored by American-born Chinese Yong Ming Pei, said that the glass building would only complement the architecture of the famous museum, bringing modernity to its appearance. Their opponents objected, emphasizing that the Art Nouveau style in which the pyramid was going to be built would spoil the aesthetic appearance of the Louvre. And this despite the fact that numerous museum buildings were erected in different historical eras, and therefore had different stylistic design.

Disputes in society, which were hotly discussed in the media, did not become an obstacle to the construction of the glass pyramid. In 1989, the building was put into operation.

Reason and reasons for construction

In 1981, François Mitterrand became President of France, who decided to turn Paris into the cultural center of Europe. The Great Louvre project was supposed to help with this. Mitterrand envisioned the museum as a place where the largest art collections from around the world would be collected. The project provided that all rooms and office premises would be moved outside the museum, and the palaces and buildings of the Louvre would be combined into one complex.

The President of the Republic decided to announce an open architectural competition, the participants of which had to propose how to bring their plans to life.

Pei's project won, proposing to move the service rooms into a huge dungeon, above which a glass pyramid would rise.

Among the reasons for Pei's victory in the competition, it is worth noting the following:

• The Louvre constantly attracted a huge number of visitors;
• Massive flows of people could not pass through the only entrance to the museum.

The construction of a glass pyramid was supposed to solve this problem.

The results of Yong Min Pei's project exceeded all expectations. Firstly, we managed to cope with the problem of queues. This contributed to the organized conduct of excursions and the elimination of endless crowds of people on the streets that surround the Louvre. Secondly, the goals set by the French President were achieved. Thirdly, the pyramid has become one of the most romantic places in Paris.

Features of the structure

A new entrance to the Louvre was erected in the museum's courtyard. The pyramid is made of glass and metal, surrounded on different sides by smaller pyramids. The architectural complex also includes another similar structure, called La Pyramide Inversee (serves as a skylight that runs above the underground gallery in front of the Louvre). During daylight hours, three small pyramids illuminate the galleries leading to the numerous halls of the museum.

The architect managed to perfectly implement the principles of high-tech, which calls for the use of a minimum number of details with maximum functionality of each element.

Along the inner perimeter, the glass pyramid is surrounded by light bulbs, making the structure look very mysterious and mystical at night.

The technical characteristics of the pyramid are amazing:

• Built from glass blocks;
• The height of the structure reaches 21.6 m;
• The length of each side of the base of the pyramid is 35 m;
• The glass slabs that make up the structure have different shapes. 70 blocks are triangular, and 603 are huge rhombuses. This form of blocks was not chosen by chance. The building turned out to be resistant and durable to the forces of nature and underground processes. The pyramid completely repeats the shape of the famous Egyptian pyramid of Cheops;
• The blocks are completely transparent, although Pei wanted them to be foggy;
• The thickness of the glass is 2.1 cm;
• The angle of inclination of each face is 52 degrees;
• The weight of the structure is 180 tons;
• At the base of the structure lies a huge polyhedron, the area of ​​which is one thousand square meters;
• During construction, which lasted from 1985 to 1989, 105 tons of aluminum chassis and 95 tons of steel were used.

The glass pyramid of the Louvre began its work in March 1989, receiving its first visitors.

Yong Ming Pei, in implementing his project, demonstrated not only an excellent knowledge of the functionalist style, but also a commitment to traditional Chinese culture and beliefs. On all sides, the above-ground building of the structure is surrounded by triangular pools from which fountains gush. This composition was intended not only to revive the architectural style, but also to combine the element of air (symbolized by the dome of the pyramid) with the element of water (fountains).

In addition, in order to erect a building so simple in appearance, but complex in design, the architect used the services of engineers, technologists, programmers, biologists, meteorologists, physicists, etc. So it was necessary for the glass of the pyramid to be resistant to the influence of time. In particular, it is known that this material tends to turn yellow. To prevent this from happening, special glass manufacturing technologies were used.

The underground and above-ground worlds are represented in the structure by earth and sky. They are connected to each other by a spiral staircase. Going down it, each visitor finds himself in a small cozy Napoleon hall. Already being inside, there is a desire to raise your head up to look at the sky.

The floor and walls of the interior are covered with white Burgundy stone. There is also a beautiful mosaic on the ceiling, which symbolizes the blue sky, slightly obscured by clouds. In the hall there is a cafe, a cloakroom, and a modern conference room.

Pyramid facts

• The structure completely replicates the proportions of the Cheops pyramid;
• The Glass Pyramid was the scene of action in D. Brown’s world-famous novel “The Da Vinci Code,” so tour guides began to include the structure in tourist routes;
• There is a version that the total number of slabs that make up the building of the entrance to the Louvre is 666 (the number of the devil), and not 673 (official data);
• The construction and opening of the pyramid was timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution.

How to get to the pyramid

The museum is located in the central part of the French capital, on Rivoli Street. You can get here by several means of transport:

• By metro, get to the Palais Royal Musee du Louvre station, which is the intersection of the seventh and first metro lines. Some tourists get off at Louvre Rivoli station (line 1);
• By bus: you need routes 95, 21,24, 68-69, 81 and others. The stop is located right next to the pyramid.
• On foot if tourists are close to Rivoli and the Louvre.

Address: 75001 Paris, France

Almost 30 years ago, the main entrance to the Louvre was decorated (disfigured - opinions vary here) by one of the strange, mysterious structures of the 20th century. Glass pyramid of the Louvre Museum. The Louvre Pyramid in Paris serves as the entrance to the planet's main art repository. This article is dedicated to the mysteries and theories built around the structure, often crazy ones.

Some interesting facts

The author of the project is Bei Yuming, an American architect of Chinese origin. The Internet, including the seemingly authoritative site Paris Ru, sometimes gives out the spelling “Ioh Ming Pei,” “architect Ioh Ming Pei.” From the English spelling Ieoh Ming Pei. The discrepancies are due to different pronunciations of Chinese dialects.

The Chinese-American architect decided that the Palais du Louvre, built according to the laws of the magnificent classical traditions, could well be decorated with several structures made of glass and steel. He said it directly - the glass should look “like a Coca-Cola bottle”!

He succeeded. He built a huge transparent building, copied in proportions from the tomb of Pharaoh Cheops, next to two small pyramids that served to illuminate the underground space. The complex was erected where French kings and emperors walked.

The pyramid in front of the Louvre was built in 1989. The main mystery of the project that decorated the anniversary of the French Revolution is not the number of diamond-shaped transparent panels, not the inverted pyramid of the Louvre, not the third “mirror”. I wonder why it was built at all?

Conspiracy theories

Expert opinion

Knyazeva Victoria

Guide to Paris and France

One must have the courage to say that the glass pyramid of the Louvre absolutely does not fit into the style of the architectural ensemble of the palace. Although the project immediately caused a storm of criticism. The main weighty argument of the defenders was: “The Eiffel Tower was also considered ugly at first, but today it is a symbol of Paris.”

So, what was said above is not true. No one thought the Eiffel Tower was ugly, the original design was criticized for not being graceful enough, but the French initially wanted to build a large tower over Paris. The glass pyramid in the Louvre is a desire, the sole non-standard decision of the then President Francois Mitterrand.

Does it fit in or doesn't it fit in?

How beautiful is the glass pyramid of the Louvre really? The media, websites, television, magazines are distributing the famous photo of a modern building - with evening lighting, taken in front of the “Napoleon's courtyard”. In the famous image, replicated in millions of copies, she looks more or less harmonious.

Rodin the Thinker

But only from that point, with good lighting, in the evening. The Eiffel Tower looks great from any angle. By the way, a famous American lighting designer was separately invited to design the lighting. Any sober visitor to the main museum of the French capital who came during the day will confirm that the structure made of glass and steel against the backdrop of the elegant lines of the palace complex of the Baroque, Renaissance, and Classicism eras looks simply ugly. The effect of mass suggestion - in the 90s, most Parisians believed that the building was ugly. Today many people are used to it.

Masons are Masons everywhere

To explain the mystery of the purpose of construction, extensive conspiracy literature has been created. Explain the need for construction:

• The goals of the Freemasons;
• Alien intervention;
• Illuminati ritual construction.

The inverted pyramid of the Louvre echoes Masonic symbolism. France is known to be the homeland of the Freemasons, and their former, now deceased, national leader Mitterrand was a prominent Freemason. Another interesting fact is that in the place where Bei Yuming’s creation now stands, French revolutionary masons built a glass pyramidal geometric figure (1793).

Alien project, Illuminati?

After the glass replica of the tomb of Cheops was built, 9 million people pass through it every year. People stand in a huge line for hours to pass through the mysterious structure, which, according to ufologists and conspiracy theorists, is a project of an alien race that has “irradiated” and mysteriously “treated” with hidden equipment, thus, more than two hundred million people in 25 years!

It's surprising because the underground lobby is not the only museum entrance! There are several more entrances - from Rivoli Street, for example. Don't forget, you can always safely enter without queuing. If you really want the inverted pyramid of the Louvre to act as an energy field, you can always exit through the main entrance.

When we hear the words, at first it may cause some confusion.

The word pyramid is more likely associated with Egypt, but, nevertheless, the glass pyramid of the Louvre has firmly entered the life of the old museum and even became a city landmark.

The pyramid was built in the 1980s as the main entrance to the museum.

The modern glass structure, which forms a striking contrast to the Louvre's historic facades, has become an iconic symbol in its own right, although not everyone has been enthusiastic about its appearance.

We can say that another rather controversial architectural object has appeared in Paris, just like a decade earlier.

The Louvre Pyramid was built as part of a project known as the "Grand Louvre", first proposed in 1981 by President François Mitterrand for expansion and modernization.

In the 1970s, the Louvre struggled to cope with the increasing number of visitors.

The entrances were too small, each wing had a separate entrance, and the layout was so confusing that visitors struggled to find the entrance or exit or simply each other in the corridors of the medieval building.

Mitterrand proposed expanding the museum by moving the Ministry of Finance, which had occupied the Richelieu wing of the Louvre building since 1873, to the Bercy area. Finally, the museum with its priceless collections was able to occupy the entire U-shaped building.

Architect Yoh Ming Pei excavated the Courtyard Napoleon, the central courtyard of the Louvre, and created an underground lobby with access to three different wings and ample space for ticket offices, shops, restaurants and other amenities. This made it possible to solve the problems of accessibility to the museum entrance.

By building the entrance to the underground level, Pei wanted to avoid looking like a subway station and create something that would attract visitors.

It seems that the Chinese-American had a rich imagination and courage, since his newly-minted design came into clear conflict with the classical facades of the Louvre.

Pei came up with a pyramid shape that became a lighthouse in the center of the courtyard. He chose glass for the shell as it was the least intrusive and allowed light to filter into the foyer below.

The pyramid is quite modest in size compared to the surrounding wings of the palace. Based on a base of 35 meters, it has a height of about 22 meters. It is surrounded by three small pyramids and pools with modern fountains.

Most critics were hostile to the bold project and constantly attacked the original design. The plans also provoked protest from Parisians, who were tired of modern projects after the construction of the Montparnasse Tower and the La Défense arch.

Polls have shown that a large majority of French citizens oppose the new structure. Personally, the pyramid also causes mental discomfort for me; it is too modern compared to the background of the old Louvre.