French officials have announced the arrest of two suspects in connection with the theft of crown jewels from the Louvre museum. The update comes a week after the heist that stunned the world, inspired endless social media content and sparked a massive manhunt.
On Sunday (October 26), the Paris prosecutor said that investigators made arrests Saturday evening. Prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether any of the Louvre jewels had been recovered. However, French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that police officials detained two suspects. Beccuau also said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests.
Also, a police official—who was not authorized to speak publicly about the case—told The Associated Press that the two men were in their 30s and known to police. He said one suspect was arrested as he attempted to board a plane bound for Algeria from the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Additionally, cops identified one of the suspects through DNA traces. Prosecutor Beccuau said earlier this week that forensics experts were analyzing 150 samples at the scene.
Prosecutor Calls Out Early Leak Of Arrests
In her statement, Prosecutor Laure Beccuau rued the premature leak of information. She said it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.”
“I deeply regret the hasty disclosure of this information by informed individuals, without consideration of the investigation,” Beccuau said on Sunday night, per ABC News.
Beccuau said officials will reveal further details after the suspects’ custody period ends. As of Saturday evening, police had up to 96 hours to hold the alleged suspects in their custody before needing to release or charge them. It’s unclear whether these suspects were still in custody on Tuesday.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”
Recap Of What Thieves Stole During Louvre Heist
Thieves took less than eight minutes on October 19 to steal jewels from the world’s most-visited museum. The stolen goods are valued at 88 million euros ($102 million). French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”
The thieves escaped with a total of eight objects. The list includes a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense. They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, and a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch were also part of the loot. Officials later found one piece, the Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds. It was outside the museum, damaged but repairable.
The Louvre reopened last week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century. Meanwhile, the world is still gagged by the audacity and scale of the heist that’s now even inspired Halloween costumes.
Suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday, a week after the heist at the world’s most visited museum that stunned the world.The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether jewels had been recovered.Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) last Sunday morning. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.” Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.The thieves slipped in and out, making off with parts of France’s Crown Jewels — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.One piece — Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
PARIS —
Suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday, a week after the heist at the world’s most visited museum that stunned the world.
The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.
French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether jewels had been recovered.
Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) last Sunday morning. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”
Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.” Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”
The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.
The thieves slipped in and out, making off with parts of France’s Crown Jewels — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.
The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.
One piece — Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
Suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday, a week after the heist at the world’s most visited museum that stunned the world.The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether jewels had been recovered.Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) last Sunday morning. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.” Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.The thieves slipped in and out, making off with parts of France’s Crown Jewels — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.One piece — Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
PARIS —
Suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft of crown jewels from Paris’ Louvre museum, the Paris prosecutor said on Sunday, a week after the heist at the world’s most visited museum that stunned the world.
The prosecutor said that investigators made the arrests on Saturday evening, adding that one of the men taken into custody was preparing to leave the country from Roissy Airport.
French media BFM TV and Le Parisien newspaper earlier reported that two suspects had been arrested and taken into custody. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau did not confirm the number of arrests and did not say whether jewels had been recovered.
Thieves took less than eight minutes to steal jewels valued at 88 million euros ($102 million) last Sunday morning. French officials described how the intruders used a basket lift to scale the Louvre’s façade, forced open a window, smashed display cases and fled. The museum’s director called the incident a “terrible failure.”
Beccuau said investigators from a special police unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and art thefts made the arrests. She rued in her statement the premature leak of information, saying it could hinder the work of over 100 investigators “mobilized to recover the stolen jewels and apprehend all of the perpetrators.” Beccuau said further details will be unveiled after the suspects’ custody period ends.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez praised “the investigators who have worked tirelessly, just as I asked them to, and who have always had my full confidence.”
The Louvre reopened earlier this week after one of the highest-profile museum thefts of the century stunned the world with its audacity and scale.
The thieves slipped in and out, making off with parts of France’s Crown Jewels — a cultural wound that some compared to the burning of Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019.
The thieves made away with a total of eight objects, including a sapphire diadem, necklace and single earring from a set linked to 19th-century queens Marie-Amélie and Hortense.
They also took an emerald necklace and earrings tied to Empress Marie-Louise, Napoleon Bonaparte’s second wife, as well as a reliquary brooch. Empress Eugénie’s diamond diadem and her large corsage-bow brooch — an imperial ensemble of rare craftsmanship — were also part of the loot.
One piece — Eugénie’s emerald-set imperial crown with more than 1,300 diamonds — was later found outside the museum, damaged but recoverable.
By LAURIE KELLMAN and JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — The glittering sapphires, emeralds, and diamonds that once adorned France’s royals could well be gone forever, experts said Tuesday after a brazen, four-minute heist in broad daylight left the nation stunned and the government struggling to explain a new debacle at the Louvre.
Each stolen piece — an emerald necklace and earrings, two crowns, two brooches, a sapphire necklace and a single earring — represents the pinnacle of 19th century “haute joaillerie,” or fine jewelry. But for the royals, they were more than decoration. The pieces were political statements of France’s wealth, power and cultural import. And they are so significant that they were among the treasures saved from the government’s 1887 auction of most royal jewels.
Police officers look for clues by a basket lift used by thieves Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 at the Louvre museum in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Laure Beccuau, the Paris prosecutor whose office is leading the investigation, said Tuesday that in monetary terms, the stolen jewelry is worth an estimated $102 million but also noted that the estimate doesn’t include historical value. About 100 investigators are now involved in the police hunt for the suspects and the gems, she said.
The theft of the crown jewels left the French government scrambling — again — to explain the latest embarrassment at the Louvre, which is plagued by overcrowding and outdated facilities. Activists in 2024 threw a can of soup at the Mona Lisa. And in June, the museum was brought to a halt by its own striking staff, who complained about mass tourism. President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the Mona Lisa, stolen by a former museum worker in 1911 and recovered two years later, will get its own room under a major renovation.
Now the sparkling jewels, artifacts of a French culture of long ago, are likely being secretly dismantled and sold off in a rush as individual pieces that may or may not be identifiable as part of the French crown jewels, experts said.
“It’s extremely unlikely these jewels will ever be retrieved and seen again,” said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, a major European diamond jeweler, said in a statement. “If these gems are broken up and sold off, they will, in effect, vanish from history and be lost to the world forever.”
Police officers work inside the Louvre museum, Sunday, Oct. 19, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Crown jewels are symbols of heritage and national pride
At once intimate and public, crown jewels are kept secured from the Tower of London to Tokyo’s Imperial Palace as visual symbols of national identities.
In the Louvre’s case, the gems were stolen from the former palace’s gilded Apollo Gallery, itself a work of art rendered in “sun, gold and diamonds,” per the museum’s website. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said more than 60 police investigators are involved in the manhunt for the four robbery suspects. The thieves were divided into two pairs, with two people aboard a truck with a cherry picker they used to climb up to the gallery, Nunez said. Photos showed the equipment’s ladder reaching to the floor above street level.
Taken, officials said, were eight pieces, part of a collection whose origin as crown jewels date back to the 16th century when King Francis I decreed that they belonged to the state. The Paris prosecutor’s office, leading the investigation, said that two men with bright yellow jackets broke into the gallery at 9:34 a.m. — half an hour past opening time — and left the room at 9:38 a.m. before fleeing on two motorbikes.
The missing pieces include two crowns, or diadems. One, given by Emperor Napoleon III to the Empress Eugenie in 1853 to celebrate their wedding, holds more than 200 pearls and nearly 2,000 diamonds. The second is a starry sapphire-and diamond headpiece — and also a necklace and single earring— worn by, among others, Queen Marie-Amelie, French authorities said.
Also stolen: a necklace of dozens of emeralds and more than 1,000 diamonds that was a wedding gift from Napoleon Bonaparte to his second wife, Marie-Louise of Austria, in 1810. The matching earrings also were stolen. The thieves also made off with a reliquary brooch and a large bodice bow worn by Empress Eugenie — both pieces diamond-encrusted, French officials said.
The robbers dropped or abandoned a hefty ninth piece, which was damaged: a crown adorned with gold eagles, 1,354 diamonds and 56 emeralds, worn by Empress Eugenie.
Left untouched were other items in the crown jewel collection, which before the heist included 23 jewels, according to the Louvre. Remaining, for example, is the plum-sized Regent, a white diamond said the be the largest of its kind in Europe.
Now it’s a race against time
Authorities haven’t given a monetary value for the stolen jewels. But they are worth many tens or hundreds of millions, even if they’re too famous to be sold on the open market in their original state. The emotional loss is keenly felt and easier to measure, with many describing France’s failure to secure its most precious items as a wounding blow to national pride.
“These are family souvenirs that have been taken from the French,” conservative lawmaker Maxime Michelet said in Parliament on Tuesday, quizzing the government about security at the Louvre and other cultural sites.
“Empress Eugenie’s crown — stolen, then dropped and found broken in the gutter, has become the symbol of the decline of a nation that used to be so admired,” Michelet said. “It is shameful for our country, incapable of guaranteeing the security of the world’s largest museum.”
The theft Sunday was not the first Louvre heist in recent years. But it stood out for its forethought, speed and almost cinematic quality as one of the highest-profile museum thefts in living memory. In fact, it echoed the fictional theft from the Louvre of a royal crown by a “gentleman thief” in the French television show “Lupin” — which in turn is based on a 1905 series of stories.
The romance of such a theft is mostly a creation of showbiz, according to one theft investigator. Christopher A. Marinello, a lawyer with Art Recovery International, said he’s never seen a “theft-to-order” by some shadowy secret collector.
“These criminals are just looking to steal whatever they can,” Marinello said. “They chose this room because it was close to a window. They chose these jewels because they figured that they could break them apart, take out the settings, take out the diamonds and the sapphires and the emeralds” overseas to “a dodgy dealer that’s willing to recut them and no one would ever know what they did.”
What happens now is a race against time both for the French authorities hunting the thieves and for the perpetrators themselves, who will have a hard time finding buyers for the pieces in all their royal glory, .
“Nobody will touch these objects. They are too famous. It’s too hot. If you get caught you will end up in prison,” aid Dutch art sleuth Arthur Brand. “You cannot sell them, you cannot leave them to your children.”
Kellman reported from London. Associated Press writer Mike Corder contributed from The Hague, Netherlands.
It sounds like the plot of a heist movie: brazen thieves break into the Louvre in broad daylight and speed off with irreplaceable jewels once belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte and Empress Josephine.
Erin Thompson, professor of art crime at the City University of New York, said while it makes for an attention-grabbing headline, these sorts of heists are “pretty common.”
“If you go in the middle of the day, there’s lots of confused tourists to act as cover while you’re running away,” Thompson said.
Thompson said jewelry is a prime target, not for its historical value, but for its melt value.
“Smarter thieves take things like jewelry … because you can melt down the metal and recut the stones, and then those pieces just disappear,” Thompson said.
Former FBI art crime investigator Robert Wittman agrees. He said the real fear is the stolen jewels will be melted down, destroying their cultural significance.
“You lose the cultural artifact,” Wittman said. “Gold just went over €4,100 ($4,780 U.S. dollars) an ounce last week. So gold is a very, very hot commodity right now.”
The thieves used a truck with a ladder, similar to those seen on fire engines, to reach a balcony and break in through a window. They then used heavy equipment to cut into display cases and made their getaway on mopeds, a common tactic in Europe’s narrow streets.
Thompson said the Louvre’s historic architecture may have also made it vulnerable.
“You can’t exactly change it all up to make things more secure,” Thompson said.
Wittman adds that French authorities are likely moving fast. He’s worked with France’s OCBC Art Crime Team and the BRB, a Parisian unit that targets organized crimes like this one.
“I think you’re going to have both of these groups involved in this, because this is important stuff to the nation of France,” Wittman said.
While paintings are often recovered, about 90% of the time, because they’re hard to sell, jewelry is another story.
Thompson said while the hired hands who physically stole jewels are often captured eventually, many times, those who planned the operation are not.
“The criminal masterminds who plotted the events often go scot-free,” Thompson said.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
In a brazen, seven-minute strike, thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre on Sunday morning and, as tourists were already inside, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with jewels of “inestimable value,” France’s interior minister said.The world’s most visited museum closed for the day as police sealed gates and ushered visitors out during the investigation.“A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati wrote on X. The museum cited “exceptional reasons” for the closure. No injuries were reported.Around 9:30 a.m. several intruders forced open a window, stole jewels from vitrines and escaped on two-wheelers, according to the Interior Ministry. It said forensic work is underway and a precise inventory of the stolen objects is being compiled, adding that the items have “inestimable” historical value. Dati and Nuñez were on site with museum leadership.Video from the scene showed confused tourists being ushered out of the glass pyramid and surrounding courtyards as officers shut the iron gates and closed nearby streets along the Seine.Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “major robbery,” saying the intruders entered from the outside using a basket lift. He said on France Inter radio that the heist took seven minutes and the thieves used a disc cutter to slice through the panes. He said it was “manifestly a team that had done scouting.”The heist occurred in the Galerie d’Apollon, a vaulted hall in the Denon wing that displays part of the French Crown Jewels beneath a ceiling painted by King Louis XIV’s court artist, according to the ministry.French daily Le Parisien reported the thieves entered via the Seine-facing facade, where construction is underway, and used a freight elevator to reach the gallery. After breaking windows, they reportedly took nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon and the Empress. One stolen jewel was later found outside the museum, the paper reported, adding that the item was believed to be Empress Eugénie’s crown and that it had been broken.Security and staffing at the Louvre in the spotlightSecurity around marquee works remains tight. The Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass and a custom high-tech display system as part of broader anti-theft measures across the museum.Staffing and protection have been flashpoints at the Louvre. The museum delayed opening during a June staff walkout over overcrowding and chronic understaffing. Unions have warned that mass tourism strains security and visitor management.It wasn’t immediately clear whether staffing levels played any role in Sunday’s theft.In January, President Emmanuel Macron announced a decadelong “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — roughly €700 million to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece its own dedicated gallery by 2031 — but workers say relief has been slow to reach the floor.Other European museums have been robbedThe theft, less than half an hour after doors opened, echoes other recent European museum raids.In 2019, thieves smashed vitrines in Dresden’s Green Vault and carried off diamond-studded royal jewels worth hundreds of millions of euros. In 2017, burglars at Berlin’s Bode Museum stole a 100-kilogram (220-pound) solid-gold coin. In 2010, a lone intruder slipped into Paris’s Museum of Modern Art and escaped with five paintings, including a Picasso.The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat. It was recovered two years later in Florence — an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait the world’s best-known artwork.Home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters — the Louvre’s star attractions include the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The museum can draw up to 30,000 visitors a day.
PARIS —
In a brazen, seven-minute strike, thieves used a basket lift to reach the Louvre on Sunday morning and, as tourists were already inside, forced a window, smashed display cases and fled with jewels of “inestimable value,” France’s interior minister said.
The world’s most visited museum closed for the day as police sealed gates and ushered visitors out during the investigation.
“A robbery took place this morning at the opening of the Louvre Museum,” Culture Minister Rachida Dati wrote on X. The museum cited “exceptional reasons” for the closure. No injuries were reported.
Around 9:30 a.m. several intruders forced open a window, stole jewels from vitrines and escaped on two-wheelers, according to the Interior Ministry. It said forensic work is underway and a precise inventory of the stolen objects is being compiled, adding that the items have “inestimable” historical value. Dati and Nuñez were on site with museum leadership.
Video from the scene showed confused tourists being ushered out of the glass pyramid and surrounding courtyards as officers shut the iron gates and closed nearby streets along the Seine.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez called it a “major robbery,” saying the intruders entered from the outside using a basket lift. He said on France Inter radio that the heist took seven minutes and the thieves used a disc cutter to slice through the panes. He said it was “manifestly a team that had done scouting.”
The heist occurred in the Galerie d’Apollon, a vaulted hall in the Denon wing that displays part of the French Crown Jewels beneath a ceiling painted by King Louis XIV’s court artist, according to the ministry.
French daily Le Parisien reported the thieves entered via the Seine-facing facade, where construction is underway, and used a freight elevator to reach the gallery. After breaking windows, they reportedly took nine pieces from the jewelry collection of Napoleon and the Empress. One stolen jewel was later found outside the museum, the paper reported, adding that the item was believed to be Empress Eugénie’s crown and that it had been broken.
Security and staffing at the Louvre in the spotlight
Security around marquee works remains tight. The Mona Lisa is protected by bulletproof glass and a custom high-tech display system as part of broader anti-theft measures across the museum.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether staffing levels played any role in Sunday’s theft.
In January, President Emmanuel Macron announced a decadelong “Louvre New Renaissance” plan — roughly €700 million to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece its own dedicated gallery by 2031 — but workers say relief has been slow to reach the floor.
Other European museums have been robbed
The theft, less than half an hour after doors opened, echoes other recent European museum raids.
In 2019, thieves smashed vitrines in Dresden’s Green Vault and carried off diamond-studded royal jewels worth hundreds of millions of euros. In 2017, burglars at Berlin’s Bode Museum stole a 100-kilogram (220-pound) solid-gold coin. In 2010, a lone intruder slipped into Paris’s Museum of Modern Art and escaped with five paintings, including a Picasso.
The Louvre has a long history of thefts and attempted robberies. The most famous came in 1911, when the Mona Lisa vanished from its frame, stolen by Vincenzo Peruggia, a former worker who hid inside the museum and walked out with the painting under his coat. It was recovered two years later in Florence — an episode that helped make Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait the world’s best-known artwork.
Home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting — from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters — the Louvre’s star attractions include the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The museum can draw up to 30,000 visitors a day.
User data highlights where travelers are visiting to experience the stunning architecture and history of famous palaces.
Press Release –
Nov 30, 2022 10:00 EST
TORONTO, November 30, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– The travel app Visited by Arriving In High Heels Corporation has published a list of the top 10 most popular palaces in the world based on user data.
Visited, available on iOS or Android, is a travel app with over 1.5 million users who mark off places they’ve been around the world. Users can set travel goals, discover new destinations, browse top 10 travel lists, see a custom map of their travels, and get printed custom travel maps by using the Visited app.
The top 10 most popular palaces in the world include:
Palais du Louvre in Paris, France tops the list, attracting the most visitors to the famed Louvre Museum, located in an elegant palace that was converted into a museum during the French Revolution.
Buckingham Palace in London, England, is the official home of the British royal family and dates back to 1825.
Tower of London was formerly a prison and home to British monarchs. The complex now attracts tourists from around the world to the storied museum.
Palace of Westminster is home to British Parliament and is a symbol of London dating back to the 11th century.
Chateau de Versailles located west of Paris in France includes an expansive, regal palace and gardens that served as the primary residence of French monarchs dating back to the early 15th century.
Prague Castle in the Czech Republic has a long imperial history and beautiful architecture.
Royal Palace of Madrid in Spain is a former summer residence of the Spanish Kings.
Royal Palace Amsterdam in the Netherlands was built during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century.
Edinburgh Castle sits atop Castle Rock in central Edinburgh and is a symbol of Scottish heritage.
Palais Royal is an ornate former royal palace across from the Louvre, in Paris, France.
To see the full list of the most popular palace destinations and over 50 lists of the top attractions in the world, download Visited on iOS or Android.
