Visitors from the UK will have to pay more to visit the Louvre in Paris than EU citizens as part of plans for a major renovation of the world’s most popular museum.
French President Emmanuel Macron said visitors from outside the EU will have to pay more than those from within the bloc as part of a major overhaul of the landmark which will include moving the Mona Lisa to a new underground room of its own.
Speaking in front of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece on Tuesday, Mr Macron said it will have a “special space” within the Louvre as part of what he called “a new renaissance”.
The Mona Lisa is currently kept behind protective glass in the museum’s largest room, which is often filled with long, noisy queues of visitors hoping for a selfie with the early 16th-century classic.
Mr Macron did not disclose the likely cost of the project, but it is thought hundreds of millions of euros will be needed to modernise the site, which suffers from overcrowding and outdated facilities.
A spokesperson for the president, quoted by euronews, said taxpayers will foot a “very small part” of the bill.
The Pompidou Centre, another major museum in Paris, is closing at the end of this year for a five-year renovation worth 262m euros (£219m).
The underground rooms, one of which will house the famous Renaissance painting, and a new entrance near the River Seine, scheduled to open in 2031, are part of the scheme, the first overhaul of the Louvre since the 1980s.
The glass pyramid entrance was added in 1989. Pic: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes
That upgrade, completed in 1989, added the iconic glass pyramid entrance and was designed to cope with four million visitors a year.
In 2024, 8.7m people came, more than three-quarters of them foreigners mostly from the US, China, Italy, the UK, Germany and Spain.
The museum is no longer up to international standards and earlier this month Louvre director Laurence des Cars warned it is in danger of becoming obsolete.
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In a document published by Le Parisien, Ms Des Cars told France’s Culture Minister Rachida Dati that the Louvre had suffered gradual degradation caused by water leaks, temperature fluctuations, and other issues, which was “endangering the preservation of artworks”.
It is not properly insulated from the cold and the heat tends to amplify noise, making the site uncomfortable for both the public and the staff, and its food and restroom facilities also aren’t up to scratch, she said.
Half of the Louvre’s budget comes from the state, including the salaries of the 2,200 employees, and the other half is provided by private funds including ticket sales, earnings from restaurants, shops and bookings for special events.
