Louvre Museum: free audio guide
The story of Louvre Museum in Paris, as the Votura app tells it on location. Read it here, or hear it on the spot with turn-by-turn walking directions.
Before you go
- Address
- Rue de Rivoli (Place du Carrousel), 75001 Paris
- Opening hours
- Mon, Thu, Sat–Sun: 9:00 AM–6:00 PM; Wed, Fri: 9:00 AM–9:00 PM
The story
Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre) is one of the world’s great museums, and its building carries nearly eight centuries of Parisian history. It begins as a fortress for King Philip II, called Philip Augustus, who orders construction in 1190 to defend Paris before leaving on crusade. That medieval keep later becomes a royal residence, and the Louvre’s transformation into a museum starts in 1793, during the French Revolution, when the newly opened Musée Central des Arts presents the national collection to the public. Today the museum’s holdings number about 380,000 objects, with roughly 35,000 works on display in galleries that cover around 72,735 square metres.
The palace keeps layers of French rule in stone, especially from Francis I, who invites major rebuilding in the 16th century and links the Louvre to Renaissance art collecting. Later, Catherine de’ Medici and Henry IV continue the palace’s expansion, and Henry IV’s Grande Galerie, begun in 1595, stretches the complex dramatically along the Seine. Louis XIII and Louis XIV push the palace further, and under Louis XIV the royal court finally leaves for Versailles in 1682, ending the Louvre’s life as the main royal residence. After that, the empty palace becomes a state space for art, learning, and administration, which helps explain why its architecture feels like a record of French power rather than a single design.
The museum’s collection is famous for masterpieces that have traveled through conquest, revolution, purchase, and scholarship. The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 1503–1506, is the most visited picture in the museum, while the Venus de Milo, discovered in 1820 on the Greek island of Milos, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace, found in 1863 on the island of Samothrace, are among its most celebrated ancient sculptures. Jacques-Louis David’s Coronation of Napoleon, completed in 1807, anchors the French painting galleries, and Eugène Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People, painted in 1830, turns the July Revolution into a lasting national image. The Louvre also holds works from Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Islamic world, medieval Europe, and the decorative arts, so a single visit can move from the Code of Hammurabi to Islamic ceramics and from Egyptian sarcophagi to French crown jewels.
The building’s most recognizable modern intervention is the glass Pyramid, designed by I. M. Pei and opened in 1989 as the new main entrance. Its geometry cuts sharply against the historic courtyards, and it helps organize the museum’s circulation for millions of annual visitors. The larger Grand Louvre project is associated with President François Mitterrand, who announces the modernization plan in 1981 and pushes the museum toward its present scale. The museum continues to evolve through major refurbishments, new galleries, and careful conservation, while the Cour Napoléon, the Richelieu Wing, the Sully Wing, and the Denon Wing frame a route through French monarchy, revolution, empire, and republic in a single vast complex.
For tourists, the Louvre is not just a stop for famous names; it is a concentrated lesson in how Paris itself changes from medieval capital to royal center to modern republic. The site’s history runs from 1190, 1793, 1682, 1820, 1863, 1830, 1807, 1981, and 1989, and each date marks a real shift in how France uses, displays, and reimagines power. Its scale, collections, and architecture make it one of the few places where a fortress, a palace, and a museum coexist in the same addressable monument. That combination gives every gallery a double life: the art is world-class, and the walls around it are just as historically important as the objects inside.
Written for the Votura audio tour and read aloud in the app. Opening hours change, so check with the venue before you go.
Self-guided tours that stop at Louvre Museum
- 파리의 역사와 예술을 걷다: 7곳 도보 투어
- Paris Historic Heartbeat: A Full-Day Walking Journey
- Free Paris on Foot: Parks, Squares, Bridges, and Iconic Views
- Paris in One Day: Icons, Hidden Corners, and a Seamless Walk
- Paris of Liberty: A Two-Day Independence and National Day Walking Tour
- Paris Heartbeat Highlights Walk: Île de la Cité to the Champs-Élysées
Hear it on the spot
Votura plays this guide when you reach Louvre Museum, then walks you to the next stop. Works offline.