Henri IV was married to Marie de Medecis, however he was known for having a number of mistresses
and their children at the Louvre until he died in 1610. Stabbed by an assassin in the streets of Paris, he was rushed
back inside the Louvre, where he became the only king to die within its walls.
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Le Musée du Louvre
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But did you know?
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Of the 420,000 items in the possession of the Louvre,
only 30,615 are on public display. If you were to spend one minute in front of each work of art, it would take
you three weeks with no breaks for eating or sleeping!
Here are some other interesting facts
about the Louvre Museum!
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The museum took its name from the Latin word "luperia" which means wolf lodge or hunting
lodge, when the king Philippe Auguste built a lodge here and fearing a Viking invasion while he was away fighting the Crusades,
ordered it to be surrounded by fortified walls. After the Hundred Years' War, this massive fortress became a royal residence.
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The most controversial addition to the museum is the most recent one, the famous pyramid
entrance completed in 1989. The Chinese-American architect, I.M. Pei, designed this modern glass pyramid with some 793
panes of glass that stands about 71 feet high in the main court yard of the Louvre. This is the main entrance to the
museum.
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