Louvre Palace

The Louvre is defined by the sharp, glass pyramid that sits in the center of the Napoleon Courtyard. Before it became the world’s largest art museum, this structure functioned as a medieval fortress built by King Philip Augustus in the late twelfth century to protect the city from Viking raids. Its foundation walls remain buried beneath the current galleries. Charles the Fifth later converted the dark stronghold into a royal residence, and generations of monarchs expanded the stone masonry until it reached its current scale.