Arts & Entertainment

The Louvre’s doors reopen to visitors after 4 months of Covid closure

Paris, Jul 6 (EFE).- The first trickle visitors crowded round the Mona Lisa on Monday as the French capital’s iconic Louvre museum opened its doors four months after it was bereft of crowds due to stringent coronavirus restrictions.

The museum’s president Jean-Luc Martinez told local reporters this morning that he expected around 7,000 punters to visit the site throughout the course of the day, less than half the usual number of visitors.

“We have been closed for four months,” he said. “Therefore there’s quite a lot of excitement for the teams with the reopening”.

There are, of course, strict hygiene measures in place.

Two entrances will be open to visitors, the famous Pyramid for the general public and the  Richelieu entrance for museum members. Everyone over the age of 11 must wear a face mask inside the building.

In order to avoid queues and guarantee a ticket, visitors are urged to book a timeslot in advance.

Once inside the museum, punters are guided by arrows on the floor, bringing through the gallery’s most iconic rooms, such as the Salle des États, which harbors Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

People will have to continue on the specified routes and not backtrack to keep flows of visitors within approved limits.

The museum has reopened 70 percent of its rooms, but the vastness of its collection means the number of artworks that will be exhibited is still overwhelming.

The sections of the museum that will remain closed for the time being include French sculptures of the Middle Ages and Renaissance and decorative arts during the Renaissance.

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