Visitors walk in the Hall of Mirrors at Chateau de Versailles. Image: AFP/Bertrand Guay
The Louvre in Paris, the world鈥檚 most visited museum, said Friday that it was closing 鈥渦ntil further notice鈥� because of the coronavirus.
The closure of the museum, which had 9.6 million visitors last year, came after the French government banned all gatherings of over 100 people to limit the spread of the virus.
The Palace of Versailles 鈥� France鈥檚 other big tourist attraction with nearly 10 million tourists a year 鈥� swiftly followed suit.
The Louvre had restricted entry to 1,000 people at a time on Monday as the number of cases in France began to rise.
In a sign that the shutdown could be relatively long-lasting, the museum said it was also postponing two upcoming exhibitions, including a show on Italian sculpture from Donatello to Michelangelo which was not due to open until May.
The Musee d鈥橭rsay in Paris, which holds the world鈥檚 biggest collection of Impressionist paintings, is expected to follow the Louvre鈥檚 lead later Friday.
A string of other museums said they too were closing their doors after the French culture ministry ordered state institutions to shut or to severely restrict entry Friday.
Public theaters, libraries and concert halls were also told to close.
France鈥檚 Culture Franck Riester is quarantined at his home after testing positive for the virus earlier this week.
Fears of long shutdown
The prospect of a long shutdown has left theaters and concert halls in Paris staring into the financial abyss.
The entertainment industry across France 鈥� but particularly in the capital 鈥� had already been reeling from a six-week transport strike over pension reforms earlier this year, which has left the Paris Opera alone facing losses of 16.4 million euros ($18 million).
Impressario Jean-Marc Dumontet, who owns several Paris theaters, told Agence France-Presse that the shutdown was a devastating double blow.
鈥淪ome of my staff are in tears,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a knock-out blow. Projects are having to be abandoned,鈥� adding that all shows opening between now and August are threatened.
鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely sad and really shocking.鈥�
The Paris Opera has pulled 34 operas, ballets and concerts at its two opera houses in the French capital, with only shows after April 24 still due to go ahead for now.
All rehearsals have also been canceled.
鈥淲e have still enough money to meet our obligations,鈥� said the opera鈥檚 chief executive officer Martin Ajdari, but he warned that 鈥渁nything that will follow this difficult period will be complicated.鈥�
The Louvre and the Musee d鈥橭rsay had restricted entry to both museums to 1,000 people earlier this week, with the Louvre forcing visitors to book online.
But with the death toll in France reaching 61 on Friday, and the government closing schools and creches, the museums were forced to take a more radical approach.
The Louvre closed for two days last week when staff refused to work over health fears.聽RGA
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