Paris’s Louvre Museum reopened its Apollo Gallery to the public on Wednesday, the first time visitors were allowed since October 2025, after robbers stole €88 million ($102 million) worth of the crown jewels in a dramatic daytime heist.
The Louvre is the most visited museum in the world, with up to 9 million guests per year.
It was originally a royal palace, which was opened to the public during the French Revolution. The museum houses the Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous art works.
The October 2025 robbery shocked the world as thieves used a crane mounted on a truck to enter the museum through a window at 9:30 in the morning, when the museum was still opening.
The group, armed with power tools such as disc cutters, broke the window and stole the French crown jewels.
valuable jewelery transferred
On their way out, the thieves dropped a 170-year-old crown commissioned by Napoleon III as part of a pair of crowns for him and his wife, Empress Eugénie.
The crown was “badly deformed”, the Louvre said, but was still “almost intact” and could be restored. Other objects included the crown which was not taken from the gallery.
Museum operators said the Apollo Gallery would return to its original 17th-century ceremonial purpose, without any precious gems or other objects on display.
The public will be able to tour the majestic room and see its gilded ceiling and Greek frescoes.
The Louvre’s director, Christophe Léribault, said that former exhibitions had been moved elsewhere in the museum.
“It is also an opportunity to rediscover the magnificent architecture and decoration of this gallery,” Leribault said.
The Apollo Gallery is considered one of the most amazing areas of the Louvre, its ceilings were designed by Charles Le Brun and later added by the French painter Eugène Delacroix, among others.
‘A shock to the whole world’
Léribault took over from former director Laurence des Cars, who resigned following the robbery, which exposed a series of security failures within the museum.
French Culture Minister Catherine Pégarde described the robbery as a “horrible day” and said it could not be forgotten.
Pégard said, “It was a shock to the entire world, which expressed its shock and sorrow in every language for several days. It was a shock to us, to discover the fragility of a place we thought was unshakable and which, like so many others, proved to be unsafe.”
Authorities have increased security at the museum, adding new surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems.
The security improvements are part of the museum’s decade-long modernization plan, which is estimated to cost up to €800 million.
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Edited by: Shawn Sinico