The Louvre’s Apollo gallery on Wednesday reopened to the public for the first time since 88 million euros ($102 million) worth of crown jewels were stolen in a dramatic daytime heist.

Security Upgrades

The public can tour the majestic room and view its gilded ceilings and Greek frescoes en route to the nearby Mona Lisa, but they won’t see any crown jewels or empty display cases. The collections and precious jewels once displayed there have been removed, as the museum said the gallery is returning to its 17th-century original ceremonial purpose.

Security at the Paris museum has been boosted with the addition of new surveillance cameras and anti-intrusion systems.

The stolen jewels remain unrecovered nine months later.

Future Plans

The gallery’s former exhibits will be relocated elsewhere in the museum, said Christophe Leribault, the Louvre’s director. “It’s also an opportunity to rediscover the splendid architecture and decor of this gallery,” he said.

Leribault was named to lead the Louvre in February when previous director Laurence des Cars resigned after the October crown jewels heist and a string of failures that battered confidence in the leadership of the world’s most-visited museum.

Security improvement is a priority of the decade-long “Louvre New Renaissance” plan launched last year, with an estimated cost of up to 800 million euros ($933 million) to modernize infrastructure, ease crowding and give the Mona Lisa a dedicated gallery by 2031.

Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.