French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a £1bn newly-built museum in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, the BBC reported.
The new Louvre, built over the past 10 years, holds 600 artworks permanently and 300 loaned from France.
Praised by critics, the building boasts a latticed dome designed to allow the desert sun to filter through.
It holds art and items related to history and religion from around the world and Mr Macron called it a “bridge between civilisations”.
The museum is paying France hundreds of millions of dollars for the use of the Louvre name and for loans of artworks and managerial advice.
The Abu Dhabi building, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, brings to mind an Arab medina (an ancient quarter of a city).
None of its 55 rooms, including 23 permanent galleries, is alike.
Photos: AFP
