Revealed! The most popular museum in the world
PA
The Louvre in Paris has been named the most-visited museum in the world.
The iconic French tourist destination attracted 8.8 million visitors in 2011, and beat the British Museum, which saw 5.8 million people pass through, into second place, according to news.com.au.
Visitors from abroad made up 66% of the crowds, with Americans accounting for the biggest majority, followed by tourists from Brazil, Italy, Australia and China.
France is obviously the place to be for culture, as the number of visitors to French museums has grown 5% to around 27 million las year.
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art was the third most popular attraction, with 5.2 million visitors last year.
The Louvre opened on 10 August 1793 with 537 paintings, and is now one of the largest art museums in the world.
It is housed in the Louvre Palace, which began life as a fortress built in the 12th century under Philip II.
The Louvre's most famous painting is undoubtedly Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.
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