Overview: The incredible metamorphosis, over eight centuries, of a feudal fortress into the largest museum in the world: the Louvre. A chaotic existence: construction and destruction, revolution and restoration. Feudal fortress, medieval castle, Renaissance palace, royal residence, seat of the academies, center of revolutionary power, first museum of France: from the keep of Philip II the Augustus to the pyramid of Ieoh Ming Pei, the Louvre has been constantly transformed, enlarged, magnified.