The Louvre was originally built as a fortress in 1190, but was reconstructed in the 16th century to serve as a royal palace. "Like many buildings, it was built and rebuilt over the years," said Tea Gudek Snajdar, an Amsterdam-based art historian, museum docent and a blogger at Culture Tourist. During its time as a royal residence, the Louvre saw tremendous growth. Nearly every monarch expanded it, according to History.com. Today, it covers a total area of 652,300 square feet (60,600 square meters). In 1682, Louis XIV moved the royal residence to Versailles, and the Louvre became home to various art academies, offering regular exhibitions of its members' works. During the French Revolution, Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, were forcibly removed from Versailles and imprisoned in Tuilleries Palace, which was then adjacent to the Louvre, according to the They were beheaded there in 1793.
1 | Location | : | Musée du Louvre, 75001 Paris, France | ||
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2 | Established | : | 10 August 1793; 228 years ago | ||
3 | Visitors | : | 2.8 million (2021) | ||
4 | Director | : | Jean-Luc Martinez | ||
5 | Type | : | Art museum and historic site | ||
6 | Collection Size | : | 615,797 in 2019 (35,000 on display) |
Inca ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (or Sapa Inca Pachacuti) built Machu Picchu in the mid-15th century. It appears to have been a royal estate or sacred, ceremonial city with an astronomical observatory.
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