History of Paris new Ministry of Finance in Bercy (the old Ministry had been housed in a wing of the Louvre), also opened in 1989. The Grande Arche in La Défense was also finished in 1989, a massive hollow cube-shaped building 112 metres high that completed the long perspective from the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel through the Place de la Concorde and the Champs Élysées. The most famous project of all, the "Grand Louvre", included the expulsion of the Ministry of Finance, the reconstruction of large parts of the museum, an underground gallery, and the addition of a glass pyramid by I.M.
Louvre Palace Louvre Palace The Louvre Palace (, ) is a former royal palace located on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois. Originally a fortress built in the medieval period, it became a royal palace in the fourteenth century under Charles V and was used from time to time by the kings of France as their main Paris residence. Its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century. In 1793 part of the Louvre became a public museum, now the Musée du Louvre, which has expanded to occupy