Classroom lesson 路 Louvre馃嚝馃嚪 France

The Louvre

The world's most visited museum, in a former royal palace

The Louvre at night with its famous glass pyramid in the courtyard

Photo 路 Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

The Louvre is a huge art museum in the middle of Paris, with a big glass pyramid in its front yard. It is the most visited museum in the world. Around 9 million people walk through its doors every year - more than the entire population of Switzerland.

Tell me more

The Louvre wasn't always a museum. It started out as a fortress over 800 years ago, then became the home of French kings and queens for hundreds of years. After the royals moved out to Versailles, it was turned into a museum so the public could see all the art they had collected.

There are over 600,000 objects inside - paintings, statues, jewellery, mummies, ancient pottery and even old armour. Only about 35,000 are out on display at any one time, and the rest live in storage. The whole building covers about as much ground as 14 football pitches.

The most famous painting in the world is here: the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci around 500 years ago. She is much smaller than people expect - only about 77 cm tall, around the size of a school bag. About 20,000 people queue up to see her every day. She has her own special wall, behind thick bulletproof glass.

The big glass pyramid out front was added in the 1980s as a modern front door. People argued about it for years (some loved it, some thought it ruined the old palace) - but now it is one of the most recognised shapes in Paris, almost as famous as the building itself.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01If you ran a museum, what would you put in it? Why might it matter who decides what is 'important' enough to display?
  2. 02The Louvre used to be where kings lived. What other buildings have changed jobs over time?
  3. 03People queue for hours to see the Mona Lisa. Why do you think a single painting can become so famous?
Try this

Classroom activity

Each pupil makes one museum 'card' for a famous object they like (real or imagined): a small picture, a one-line description, and one fun fact. Lay them out around the classroom in 'galleries' (animals, ancient world, sports, family heroes) and walk around your class museum together.