Nine Months After the 'Heist of the Century,' the Louvre Reopens the 'Hall of Apollo,' but the Jewels Remain Missing

Nearly nine months after the heist described as the “crime of the century,” the Apollo Gallery at the Louvre Museum in the French capital, Paris, is set to reopen to visitors tomorrow, Wednesday.

The gallery’s reopening is scheduled to take place in the presence of French Minister of Culture Catherine Pégard, despite only one of the eight royal jewels stolen on October 19, 2025, having been recovered.

A group of thieves breached the exhibition hall in broad daylight, using a truck equipped with an aerial platform, and managed to steal eight pieces from the French Crown Jewels within minutes. The stolen items, valued at approximately 88 million euros (equivalent to $100.4 million USD), included crowns, circlets, brooches, and earrings belonging to Empress Eugénie, Empress Marie Louise, and Queen Marie Amélie.

With the exception of one piece recovered on the day of the theft, the remaining jewels are still missing, while investigators continue their efforts to uncover the details of the operation and recover the stolen items.

The heist at the Louvre sparked global shock and exposed significant security vulnerabilities in the world’s most visited museum, which attracts around nine million visitors annually.

The renowned gallery, adorned with gold decorations and featuring a 15-meter-high ceiling, will resume welcoming visitors. However, Louvre Director General Christophe Leribault confirmed that the “collections and precious objects” will remain stored in a vault until a secure, windowless room is constructed.

The theft also triggered an internal crisis at the museum, culminating in the replacement of its former director, Laurence de Carzou, with Christophe Leribault. Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee on the security of French museums is expected to convene in mid-May 2027.