User:TokhabayevaS/Louvre Palace

The Louvre Palace, or the Louvre Palace (fr. Palais du Louvre), or simply the Louvre - an ancient royal castle in Paris, rebuilt into a palace located on the right bank of the Seine between the Tuileries garden and the church of Saint-Germain-l’Oceroy. Today it is one of the richest museums in the world - the Louvre.

The history of the Louvre
The first fortress of the Louvre was built under Philip Augustus in a place called “Lupara”; the origin of the word is unknown. Perhaps it is akin to the Latin "lupus" (lupus) and denotes the habitat of wolves.

Another version refers the origin of the word "Louvre" to the language of those Franks who were ancestors of the current French: the word "lauer" or "lower" in Old French meant "watchtower."

But a similar word was in the language of those Germanic tribes, whose language was of non-Latin origin. The French historian Henri Sauval (Henri Sauval (1623–1676)) believed that the word “louvre” came from “leovar, lovar, lover, leower ou lower”, which meant “fortress” or “fortification”

Medieval Louvre
Gathering together with Richard the Lionheart on a crusade, King Philip Augustus took care to protect his City (Cité) from any external attacks, and especially from his relatives and contenders for the throne of France - Plantagenets. The construction of a new fortress wall began in 1190 and lasted for 20 years. One of the towers of the fortress wall, which rested against the Seine, was nicknamed the Louvre. Her twin - the tower, which stood on the opposite shore - was called Nelskaya. The meadow in front of the Louvre Tower became, on the orders of Philip Augustus, a site for the construction of a fortress, which later turned into a royal castle, and later - one of the most famous palaces in the world. The fortress wall crossed the present inner courtyard of the Louvre (Square Courtyard), located in the eastern part of the palace complex; The first fortress was located in the southwestern part of the Square Courtyard. The fortress was practically impregnable for its time. In its central part stood the thirty-meter-high donjon; The fortress was defended by ten towers, jagged walls 2.5 m thick with machicles, and a moat filled with water and counterscarped. The Louvre housed the royal treasury, the prison and the arsenal, while the royal palace remained in the western part of the island of Cité. Already in the XIV century, under Charles V, in connection with the expansion of Paris, new fortified walls of the greater territory were built, and the Louvre partially lost its defensive significance. Charles V transferred his residence from the palace on the island of Cité to the Louvre. The former fortress was adapted for the king's apartments - a residential building, a grand staircase appeared, windows were cut in the existing building, the roof was covered with chimneys and pinnacles; from the old royal palace in the Louvre library was moved from 973 books - a huge collection for its time. A good idea of ​​the appearance of the Louvre of that time is given by an engraving placed in the “Magnificent Horology of the Duke of Berry”

Henry IV and the Louvre, the birth of the Big Project
After becoming king in 1589, Henry IV began the implementation of the “Big Project”, which included the removal of the remains of a medieval fortress to increase the courtyard and the connection of the Tuileries and the Louvre palaces. The palaces were connected with the help of the Grand Gallery designed by architects Jacques Androuet and Louis Metezo. The ground floor of the Grand Gallery was originally occupied by shops and workshops, and under Cardinal Richelieu, a mint and a printing house were placed in the building.