The Louvre closed to the public on Monday after students barricaded its entrances, turning away tourists who had come to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo as violent unrest spread through Paris.
The museum announced the closure on its official X account in both French and English, attributing it to a “student social movement.” No date was given for when normal operations would resume, according to The Daily Wire.
“Dear visitors, due to student strikes the museum is currently closed. We apologise for the inconvenience,” the museum wrote.
Entrances Blocked From Early Morning
Students from the École du Louvre — the art history school that shares the museum complex — barricaded the institution’s main access points by Monday morning, Fox News reported, citing Agence France-Presse. The iconic glass pyramid, the Carrousel du Louvre shopping concourse and the Passage Richelieu were all blocked, leaving management no choice but to turn visitors away.
Video circulating online captured furious tourists shouting insults and raising their middle fingers at the protesters standing in their way, with one clip showing a group of would-be visitors cursing the demonstrators as they blocked the entrance.
The scale of the disruption is significant. On a busy day, the Louvre — home to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa,” Johannes Vermeer’s “The Lacemaker,” the Venus de Milo, Michelangelo’s “Dying Slave” and the Great Sphinx of Tanis — can draw as many as 20,000 visitors, per The Daily Wire.
Solidarity With Wider National Unrest
The blockade was organized in solidarity with nationwide protests over the rising cost of living and recent police actions, Fox News reported. The demonstrations have extended well beyond the museum’s doors.
Rioters have looted and damaged businesses across the capital, including in major shopping districts, according to Fox News. The Daily Wire reported that dozens of radical groups — among them communist organizations and a Muslim student association — have backed the protests, where Palestinian flags are a common sight.
The closure of one of the world’s most visited cultural landmarks marks an escalation in the visibility of the unrest, bringing the violence of the streets directly onto the steps of France’s most recognizable institutions. For now, the museum’s doors remain shut and no reopening date has been announced.
Source: www.dailywire.com — https://www.dailywire.com/news/agitators-shut-down-the-louvre-as-riots-rock-paris