FRANCE – The Louvre has transferred some of its most precious jewels to the Bank of France after a spectacular daylight heist exposed serious flaws in the museum’s security.
On Friday, a secret police escort oversaw the transfer of some of the remaining jewels to the Bank, located about 500 meters (roughly 500 yards) from the museum, according to French media reports.
They will now be stored in the Bank’s most secure vault, 26 meters (85 feet) below the ground floor of its elegant headquarters in central Paris. The vault houses 90% of France’s gold reserves, as well as Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and other national treasures. Its contents are valued at an estimated €600 million (£520 million). The Souterraine, as the vault is known, was designed to withstand any form of attack, according to the Bank’s website.
The main shaft is protected by a 50-centimeter-thick, seven-tonne door made of flame-resistant concrete reinforced with steel. Behind this door lies a 35-tonne rotating concrete turret, which the Bank says “prevents any possibility of forced entry.”
Last Sunday, masked thieves used an angle grinder to break through a reinforced window into the Louvre’s Gallery of Apollo, where France’s crown jewels are displayed.
Within eight minutes, the gang made off with treasures including a necklace that once belonged to Napoleon’s wife, Empress Marie-Louise, and a diadem owned by Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugénie — together worth €88 million (£77 million). The thieves reportedly used a mechanical ladder mounted on a truck to reach a first-floor balcony and gain access to the gallery. (BBC)
