The Louvre has reopened its doors to visitors three days after a spectacular daytime robbery.
The reopening of Paris’s most famous museum on Wednesday comes hours before its director is set to face a grilling by French senators to explain how thieves made off with an estimated 88 million euros ($102m) in jewels from the site.
The heist has renewed scrutiny of security measures in French museums after two were affected by thefts last month.
A number of investigators are looking for the culprits, working on the theory that it was an organised crime group that clambered up a ladder to break into the museum.
The thieves made off with eight pieces, including an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon I gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem that once belonged to Empress Eugenie, which is dotted with nearly 2,000 diamonds. The thieves dropped a diamond-studded crown as they fled.
An investigation “is progressing”, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez told local media on Wednesday, saying “more than 100 investigators” had been mobilised.
During a meeting of cabinet ministers, President Emmanuel Macron ordered a “speeding up” of security measures at the Louvre, a government spokeswoman said.
Calling the financial loss “extraordinary”, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said the greater damage was to France’s historical heritage.
Beccuau said expert analyses are under way; four people have been identified as present at the scene, and roughly 100 investigators are mapping the crew and any accomplices.
Disappointed tourists were turned away at the entrance of the Louvre in the heart of Paris in the days following the theft.
But on Wednesday, museum-goers flocked to the institution for the 9am (07:00 GMT) opening, though the Apollo Gallery – scene of Sunday’s theft – remained closed.
The world’s most-visited museum, whose extensive collection includes the Mona Lisa, last year welcomed nine million people to its extensive hallways and galleries.
Museum director Laurence des Cars, who in 2021 became the first woman to run the Louvre, is likely to be questioned about security at the Apollo Gallery, which houses the royal collection of gems.
Union representative Christian Galani, who works at the Louvre, said the museum does not have enough security guards after job cuts over the past 15 years, even as visitor numbers have jumped.
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