Shuttle transfer from Pyramide du Louvre to Paris airports

History and visit the Louvre Pyramid in Paris

Erected in the grounds of the Cour Napoléon of the Louvre Museum in Paris, the Louvre Pyramid is located at 4 rue Croix des Petits Champs. The Chinese-American architect IM Pei designed this great monument between 1985 and 1988 at the request of the President of the Republic, François Mitterrand. Shaped segments in glass and steel pyramid is 21.64 meters high on a square base 35.42 meters on a side. It is composed of 603 diamonds, 70 triangles and glass surrounded by triangular water basins. This is the first major structure built in laminated glass. Inaugurated on 30 March 1989 it was opened to the public the next day.

Celebrations of the French Revolution were originally the purpose of the Louvre Pyramid. François Bernard Balssa spoke of this idea in his little booklet entitled “Memoirs of two major obligations to be fulfilled by the French.” The construction of the pyramid was one of those obligations ” . It has been a mark of recognition to Napoleon. On 21 June 1983 the architect IM Pei presented the project to build the pyramid François Mitterrand. A large bright entrance hall contrasting shape formed the project. The legal department of the operation was entrusted to Marcel HERFRAY. He was at the time the Government Commissioner and attached main headquarters.

There were passionate debates around the construction of the pyramid. Opinions are divided. Most leaned on the fact that this great monument of international and futuristic style would have been a greater contrast with classic Louvre. From the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the Cour Napoléon, it will hide  part of the original building.
In January 1984, the public became aware of the construction project after hearing IM Pei to the National Commission of Historical Monuments. The architect received many challenges so many conservatives that   right french political people. President François Mitterrand was nicknamed Mitteramsès and Tontonkhamon or by the press. Axis History is in no way passes through this building because it starts at the equestrian statue of Louis XIV, who stands in the Cour Napoleon Square and not the court. Also, a shift of 6.3 ° is raised between the axis of the Tuileries Gardens and the Champs Elysees and the axis of the Palais du Louvre.

However, the difference between the architectural styles Pyramid and the Louvre had positive assessments. Many loved the mix of contemporary and classic style. Note that four other buildings stand in the Louvre. In addition to this great pyramid, there is also the inverted pyramid and the three mini-pyramids which encircle the main pyramid.

The inverted Louvre pyramid erected in the Carrousel du Louvre. Its construction was designed in the same way as the main pyramid. Unlike it only has seven triangles at the base of each side, 84 diamonds and 28 triangles. A glass surface covers the almost flat as the Great Pyramid. Through hedges in the center of the Place du Carrousel, it is hidden in the natural ground level. The astronomer Jean-Louis Heudier made the calculation and traced a meridian at the bottom of the inverted pyramid in 1997 is marked by a commemorative plaque.