Louvre Claude Monet. The Louvre is slightly askew of the Historic Axis ("Axe historique"), a roughly eight-kilometre (five-mile) architectural line bisecting the city. It begins on the east in the Louvre courtyard and runs west along the Champs-Élysées. In 1871, the burning of the Tuileries Palace by the Paris Commune revealed that the Louvre was slightly askew of the "Axe" despite past appearances to the contrary. The Louvre can be reached by the Palais Royal – Musée du Louvre Métro or the Louvre-Rivoli stations. The Louvre has three entrances: the main entrance at the pyramid, an entrance from the Carrousel du
Paris in the Middle Ages not have an efficient system of covered sewers until Napoleon built them at the beginning of the 19th century. Street lighting was almost nonexistent in the Middle Ages. In 1318, it was recorded that there were just three street lanterns in Paris: one candle in a lantern outside the entrance to the Châtelet fortress; a candle outside the Tour de Nesle to indicate its entrance to boatmen; and a third lantern outside the Cemetery of the Innocents to remind passers-by to pray for the souls of the deceased. Very little light came from houses, since glass windows were extremely rare;