Stock Photo - France. History. The Louvre Palace French: Palais du Louvre, on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris, is a former royal palace situated between the Tuileries Gardens and the church of Saint-Germain l´Auxerrois Its origins date back to the medieval period, and its present structure has evolved in stages since the 16th century The Louvre gets its name from a Frankish word leovar or leower, signifying a fortified place, according to the French historian Henri Sauval It was the actual seat of power in France, until Louis XIV moved to Versailles in 1682, bringing the government perforce with him, the Louvre remained the formal seat of government to the end of the Ancien Régime in 1789 Since then it has housed the celebrated Musée du Louvre as well as various government departments The Old Louvre occupies the site of the 12th-century fortress of King Philip Augustus, also called the Louvre