Louvre Museum

The Louvre was a fortress, then a royal palace, before becoming a museum in 1793 — the Revolution opened a private collection to the public. Philippe Auguste's medieval foundations are visible in the basement, under the Cour Carrée.

You do not see all of it: seventy-three thousand square metres, thirty-five thousand works on display, fourteen kilometres of route. Pick a wing. The Mona Lisa is small, behind glass, in a room where you shuffle in line — and three quarters of visitors head straight there, which leaves the rest quiet.