Louvre Pyramid

This is the main Louvre entrance utilised by most visitors. Not only does it take you directly into the Palace, but it was precisely created because the Louvre building could deal with fewer visitors than the museum got!

The Louvre pyramid, a structure of glass and metal formulated by the Chinese-American architect I, is central to this particular entrance. M. Pei. It is in the Louvre Palace’s main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) and surrounded by three smaller pyramids.

The Louvre pyramid architecture is so significant in its reality because the four glass triangles and a square base create a mesmerising interplay of light and shadows, which is both a testament to modernist architecture and institutional transparency and has long since become an icon of the Louvre Palace Museum and a landmark of Paris.

Fun fact! The pyramid has a total of 673 panes, which include 603 rhombi and 70 triangles – not 666, a conspiracy that many rumours have spread of the “number of the Beast”.

Speaking of rumours, other than conspiracies about the glass panes, Louvre Pyramid history records it as being created in 1989 as part of the broader Grand Louvre project. It was first announced in 1981, in fact, by François Mitterrand, who was the then-president of France.

The pyramid includes an underground lobby to facilitate the endless visitors who could not be corralled within the original halls, which in turn is home to many of the restaurants in the Louvre, such as Bistrot Benoit, which is located at Level 2, Gougette at Level 1, and even your local Starbucks at Level 1 under the pyramid!

You can also find a Louvre cafeteria or a takeout counter on various mezzanines, all under the pyramid, where you can rest and relax between breaks.