The Louvre Palace was originally built as…
August 1793 CE
Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum.
Due to the urban expansion of the city, the fortress eventually lost its defensive function and, in 1546, was converted by Francis I into the main residence of the French Kings.
The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace.
In 1682, Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.
In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons.
The Académie remains at the Louvre for one hundred years.
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decrees that the Louvre should be used as a museum to display the nation's masterpieces.
The museum opens on August 10, 1793, with an exhibition of five hundred and thity-seven paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property.
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