Paris is back to normal with The Louvre Museum this week reopening its Apollo Gallery to visitors, 10 months after one of the most daring museum robberies in modern history.
The gallery welcomed visitors again - but without the display cases or the French Crown Jewels that made it one of the Louvre’s biggest attractions.
Museum officials have removed all precious objects while plans are developed for a new high-security vault elsewhere in the museum, news hub Travel Mole reports.
The Apollo Gallery has remained closed since October 19, 2025, when a gang carried out a clever daylight raid that stunned the art world - and security operatives at The Louvre.
The Apollo Gallery has remained closed since October 19, 2025, when a gang carried out a clever daylight raid that stunned the art world - and security operatives at The Louvre.
Disguised as construction workers, the thieves used a cherry-picker truck to gain access through a vulnerable first-floor window overlooking the River Seine.
The robbers completed what French Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a “four-minute operation,” escaping with eight jewels from the French Crown collection worth an estimated €88 million (about US$102 million).
The robbers completed what French Culture Minister Rachida Dati described as a “four-minute operation,” escaping with eight jewels from the French Crown collection worth an estimated €88 million (about US$102 million).
The haul included necklaces, a tiara, a brooch and other priceless treasures from the Napoleonic era.
One damaged item, the emerald-studded crown of Empress Eugénie, was later recovered outside the museum but the remaining jewels have so far not been recovered.
Louvre president Christophe Leribault says the Apollo Gallery is returning to its original 17th-century role as a ceremonial state gallery rather than a jewelery exhibition.
The surviving Crown Jewels will eventually be moved to a purpose-built, windowless secure room elsewhere in the museum.
A French parliamentary inquiry later concluded that security at The Louvre had been neglected for years, despite repeated warnings that the Apollo Gallery’s riverside windows represented a significant vulnerability.
Despite the absence of the Crown Jewels, the Apollo Gallery remains one of the Louvre’s most spectacular baroque interiors. Its soaring vaulted ceiling, decorated by artists including Charles Le Brun, inspired Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors and continues to rank among the museum’s architectural highlights.
A French parliamentary inquiry later concluded that security at The Louvre had been neglected for years, despite repeated warnings that the Apollo Gallery’s riverside windows represented a significant vulnerability.
Despite the absence of the Crown Jewels, the Apollo Gallery remains one of the Louvre’s most spectacular baroque interiors. Its soaring vaulted ceiling, decorated by artists including Charles Le Brun, inspired Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors and continues to rank among the museum’s architectural highlights.
The Louvre is home to more than 33,000 works spanning antiquities, sculpture and painting - from Mesopotamia, Egypt and the classical world to European masters. Its star attractions include the Mona Lisa, as well as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
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