Louvre Pyramid

루브르 피라미드

The Louvre Pyramid is a large pyramid made of glass and metal in the courtyard of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. It is the main entrance to the Louvre, the museum where the Mona Lisa hangs. The pyramid is 21.6 metres tall, and each side of its square base is 34 metres long.

See it on the 3D globe →

At a glance

Country: France
Location: Paris, France
Built: 1989
Height: 21.6 m
Type: Museum

Quick answers

Where is Louvre Pyramid?

Louvre Pyramid is in Paris, France.

When was Louvre Pyramid built?

Louvre Pyramid was built in 1989.

How tall is Louvre Pyramid?

Louvre Pyramid is about 21.6 m tall.

I. M. Pei's glass-and-steel pyramid, the main entrance to the Louvre, the world's most-visited museum.

The Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei designed it as part of the Grand Louvre project that President François Mitterrand announced in 1981. It opened to the public in 1989. Three smaller pyramids stand around it, and an upside-down pyramid inside a shopping mall also brings light underground. Today the big pyramid has become a symbol of the museum.

How is it built?

It is made of 603 diamond-shaped and 70 triangular glass pieces, 673 panes in all, held by thin metal poles. The slope of its sides is 51.52 degrees, close to the angle of the ancient Egyptian pyramids.

Light pours through the glass into a big underground hall where visitors enter, then walk up into the old palace wings. The pyramid was built because the old entrance could not handle the growing number of visitors.

Why was it controversial?

Many people were upset that a modern glass pyramid would stand beside a Renaissance palace. Some said the Egyptian shape was a symbol of death and did not belong in Paris, and political critics nicknamed it "Pharaoh François' Pyramid". There were years of debate.

Over time it became a beloved Paris landmark. Three sides of the pyramid are surrounded by shallow reflecting pools with fountains.

The 666 rumour

A famous rumour says the pyramid has exactly 666 panes, "the number of the beast". The Louvre says it has 673. The story began in the 1980s when a brochure printed during construction mentioned the number, and the novel The Da Vinci Code repeated it in 2003.

According to Pei's office, Mitterrand never asked for a certain number of panes. By 2014 the number of visitors had doubled from the 4.5 million the pyramid was designed for, so the area beneath it was redesigned.

Fun facts

The Louvre, home of the Mona Lisa, is the most-visited art museum in the world.
The pyramid and hall were built because the old entrance could not handle the growing number of visitors.
Its sides sit at an angle similar to that of Egyptian pyramids.
Pei had used small glass pyramids before, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Three of its sides are surrounded by shallow reflecting pools with fountains.