The Louvre stands on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris.
The Seine divides central Paris into a northern bank, the Rive Droite or Right Bank, and a southern bank, the Rive Gauche or Left Bank. The Louvre is in the city’s 1st arrondissement on the northern side of the river, placing it firmly on the Right Bank.
The directional name comes from the river’s flow: when facing downstream, the northern bank lies to the right. The Louvre’s location also places it near major Right Bank landmarks and districts, including the Tuileries Garden, Palais Royal and Rue de Rivoli.
The museum occupies the former Louvre Palace, whose earliest major fortress works date to the reign of Philip II in the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. It opened as a public museum on 10 August 1793. A common mistake is to answer “Right Bank” rather than the river’s name; the question asks which river, so the canonical answer is Seine.