Which courtyard of the Louvre contains the glass pyramid?

The glass pyramid at the Louvre stands in the Cour Napoléon, the palace’s principal central courtyard.

Designed by Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei, the pyramid was commissioned during François Mitterrand’s Grand Louvre project. Construction ran from 1985 to 1989, and the pyramid became the museum’s new principal entrance, leading down to an underground visitor hall and distributing visitors toward the Louvre’s major wings.

The courtyard’s name refers to Napoleon, reflecting the palace’s long association with French rulers and imperial history. It is easy to confuse the Cour Napoléon with the Cour Carrée, another major Louvre courtyard, but the Cour Carrée is the older, more enclosed square court east of the pyramid.

The main pyramid is surrounded by three smaller pyramids that act as skylights. Beneath the nearby Carrousel du Louvre is also an inverted pyramid, a separate structure that is often mistakenly identified as the location of the main glass pyramid.