Louvre-Lens

Louvre-Lens is a satellite museum of the Musée du Louvre located in Lens, northern France, opened in December 2012 as part of a decentralization initiative. The compact, museum-in-the-landscape concept was designed to bring a selection of Louvre collections and special exhibitions to the former mining region around Lens.

The institution is best known for the Galerie du Temps, a long chronological display that occupies about 3,000 square meters and presents roughly 200 works spanning ancient to modern times. In addition to the Galerie du Temps visitors can see rotating temporary exhibitions drawn from the Louvre’s holdings and international loans, plus public programs and education facilities.

The project was developed in the 2000s and the museum opened in 2012 to broaden access to the Louvre’s collections outside Paris. It uses a low-profile building and surrounding park to connect the galleries with the area’s post-industrial landscape.

Louvre-Lens sits in the city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department, within the former Nord-Pas-de-Calais coal basin. The museum is located close to Lens’s urban area and is intended to serve the wider Hauts-de-France region.

• Galerie du Temps size and scope: The central permanent display arranges roughly 200 works in chronological order across about 3,000 square meters, emphasizing cross-cultural connections.

What to See #

• Galerie du Temps: A long permanent display called the Galerie du Temps occupying roughly 3,000 square meters and showing about 200 works arranged chronologically to trace cultural connections across eras.
• Temporary exhibition spaces: Temporary exhibition halls used for rotating shows drawn from the Louvre's collections and international loans, supported by an auditorium and educational spaces.
• Park and grounds: A public park and landscaped grounds that link the building to the former mining landscape of Lens and provide outdoor circulation and sculpture spaces.