Opening onto the Tuileries Gardens, the Cour Napoléon was created during the construction of the new Louvre, inaugurated on 14 August 1857 by Emperor Napoléon III. Lined with multiple wings and pavilions (Turgot, Richelieu, Colbert, Daru, Denon, Mollien) with facades decorated with statues of famous people, the Cour Napoléon linked the Louvre to the Tuileries Palace, which burned down in 1871. Since 1989, the Louvre Pyramid has occupied the centre of the courtyard, which has been entirely returned to pedestrians. The architect Pei had a copy of Le Bernin’s equestrian statue of King Louis XIV, kept at the Château de Versailles, placed in the axis of the pyramid.