Louvre’s Apollo Gallery to reopen without Crown Jewels after heist

Inja News جولای 21, 2026 2 minutes read

The Louvre Museum‘s Apollo Gallery will reopen to visitors Wednesday, nine months after a spectacular burglary in which thieves stole French Crown Jewels valued at €88 million (about $102 million), local media reported.

The gallery will reopen without its jewelry display cases and return to its original role as a ceremonial state gallery, museum President Christophe Leribault told French daily Le Parisien.

Visitors will instead be able to view its painted and sculpted decorations, including ceilings designed by Charles Le Brun. Created under King Louis XIV in 1661, the gallery later served as a model for the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.

Four thieves broke into the gallery on Oct. 19, 2025, using a truck-mounted platform to reach and force open a window. They stole nine items within minutes, including necklaces, earrings, tiaras and brooches from the collections of Marie-Louise, Marie-Amelie, Hortense and Empress Eugenie.

Investigators recovered Empress Eugenie’s crown, which the robbers abandoned near the museum during their escape, leaving eight pieces missing. The damaged crown is undergoing restoration, but Leribault said nearly all its components remained intact.

The remaining Crown Jewels that were not taken during the burglary will eventually be transferred to a secure, windowless room elsewhere in the Louvre.

Laurence des Cars, then director of the Louvre, offered to resign after the robbery, but Culture Minister Rachida Dati rejected her resignation. Des Cars later stepped down in February and was succeeded by Leribault. The stolen jewels were not privately insured.

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