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By Benh LIEU SONG-Wikimedia

10 things you didn’t know about the pyramid of the Louvre

The Louvre in Paris is the world’s largest museum with the most impressive art collections in history. The baroque style museum building was initially a palace on the banks of Seine River.

Other than the treasures found in the museum, there is another exciting feature at the top of the underground museum. Pyramids are not only in Egypt or Mexico, but they are in Paris too.

In Paris you will find this at the Louvre museum, the largest being one of the entrances. There is much that you may not know about the pyramid of the louvre. There are conspiracies about the pyramid too.

So here are 10 things about the pyramid that you did not know.

1. The pyramid was designed by a Chinese-American architect

The Louvre Pyramid was designed by a Chinese-American architect, Ieoh Ming Pei. He designed three pyramids, one large one surrounded by two small ones.

The largest also serves as an entrance to the museum. These pyramids were completed in 1989 and are one of the famous landmarks in Paris.

The pyramid was commissioned in 1983 by the then French President, Francois Mitterrand. He assigned the work to Mr Pei to design a new entrance to the museum since the existing entrances could not handle a large number of the museum visitors.

This assignment did not, however, please many French nationals who expected a design competition as was the norm. Pei was a renown designer who had done amazing work at the Washington National Gallery of Art.

2. It serves as the main entrance to the Museum

By Alvesgaspar – Wikipedia

The main reason why the pyramid of the louvre was built was to ease the foot traffic and long queues at the existing entrance.

This fascinating glass pyramid has drawn the attention of many as well as make the museum the most visited in Paris and the world.

Many people were opposed to a foreigner designing the pyramid and avoided the museum. This did not last long because both local Parisians and tourists flooded the Louvre. You will find many by the pyramid taking selfies and group photos for their social media pages.

The pyramid has not only achieved its architectural purpose but its functional purpose as an entrance to the museum. It allowed visitors to access the three pavilions in the museum.

3. The pyramid is smaller now

The pyramid was officially opened for public use in 1989, the initial number of visitors expected to use it was 4.5 million annually.

The number of visitors to the museum doubled in less than four years, 10 million visitors were reported to have visited the museum in 1994 only.

The pyramid intended to alleviate visitors’ inconveniences such as waiting time and relaxed viewing of the art and artefacts in the museum.

Entrance at the pyramid was then doubled to increase the flow of visitors to the museum.

Other entrances have also been improved to allow the smooth flow of visitors and reduce waiting time. Signage in the museum has also been improved for better directions inside.

It is estimated that there are at least 27,000 visitors in the museum in a day.

4. The pyramid has a significant meaning

By Hteink.min – Wikimedia

So the main pyramid used as an entrance to the museum was built with the exact proportion of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The significance of the pyramid on the courtyard is to tell about the importance of Egyptian artefacts collection in the museum.

The main pyramid is surrounded by three other smaller ones. These pyramids create light shafts to the museum’s collections.

There is also an inverted pyramid that is visible from underground, at the Carrousel entrance to the Louvre. It is an upside-down, suspended pyramid.

5. The Pyramid is on the main courtyard of the Louvre

Before the pyramid was built at the courtyard, the museum building did not have the main entrance. It was a maze of diverse sub-buildings linked through multiple entry points.

This led president Francois Mitterrand to propose the renovation that would give the building the main lobby. This also enabled access to the building’s pavilions.

The project became popular but was criticized in equal measure as being extravagant.

Depending on the type of ticket you bought, you will be directed to one of the entrances to the museum.

Whichever entrance you access, they converge beneath the Louvre Pyramid providing convenient access to the three pavilions.

6. Mountain climbers were hired to clean

One thing that did not cross the mind of many during the designing and building of the pyramid was cleaning. When the pyramid was still new, several attempts to clean the glass failed because of how it was inclined.

After several failed attempts, skilled mountaineers were hired to climb the pyramid and clean it. Later on, a robot was made to do the job, it was controlled by remote control.

While climbing the pyramid, the robot is secured to the glass with suction cups. The robot cleans using a squeegee and a brush.

The task is however not entirely left to the robot but humans clean it too.

7. A Special glass was used to build the pyramid

By Babyaimeesmom – Wikimedia

The pyramid was designed to be transparent and let in as much light as possible. For this to be achieved, Pei insisted on using glass. This was to allow visitors to see through it. It also created an illusion of an untouched palace.

A challenge that Pei went through while looking for the glass, was finding the right one with no tint.

He, therefore, worked with a French glass manufacturing company to create the exact type of glass he needed.

The glass that was manufactured was cleared of all iron oxides to avoid any bluish or greenish reflection. It was an extra clear laminated glass with high optical quality.

8. The pyramid of the louvre is the next popular attraction after Eiffel Tower

When you visit Paris, two landmarks will most definitely be on your bucket list; the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre pyramid.

The Louvre pyramid is the second most visited location after the Eiffel tower. It has defined the landscape in Paris.

In 2018, more than 10 million visitors went to the Louvre museum and used the pyramid entrance. This pyramid has also featured in several movies and has been written about in novels.

9. It is made of glass and metal

By Babyaimeesmom – Wikimedia

The pyramid at the louvre museum is made of glass and metal. It has glass segments that are supported by metal poles that stand at 21 metres.

There are 603 rhombus shapes and 70 triangles made of glass. The triangles and diamond shapes are irregular creating an illusion of cut jewellery.

The glass was made such that should forceful impact hit it; it does not lose any fragment. There have been no repairs done on the pyramid since it was built.

10. 666 conspiracy – the number of glass used on the pyramid

There have been conspiracies that the number of glass used on the pyramid is 666. This is an apocalyptic number or the mark of the beast.

It is however not true, there are 673 glass panels on the pyramid.