World’s top 20 museums

Story highlights

Six of the most visited museums of 2013 are in London

The world's most visited museum is home to Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"

Overall, 2013 attendance at the top 20 museums was up by more than 7% from 2012

CNN  — 

A woman with a mysterious smile is one of the most magnetic draws at the world’s most popular museum.

Not familiar with her? Here’s another hint: This centuries-old museum took a breathtaking modern leap in 1989 with the introduction of a glass pyramid outside.

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CNN goes inside Paris' Louvre Museum
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Behind the scenes of the Louvre
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The art of copying at the Louvre
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Not surprisingly, the Louvre in Paris is the world’s most visited museum, with 9.3 million visitors last year, according to the 2013 Museum Index.

The index, released this month as part of the TEA/AECOM Global Attractions Attendance Report, is in its second year of tracking museum attendance.

The report tracks top museums in Europe, the United States, Canada and the Asia-Pacific region. Next year, Mexico and Latin America will be included in the museum category, according to engineering design firm AECOM, one of the organizations behind the index.

The top 20 museums for 2013 include six museums in London, thanks in part to the heavily promoted 2012 Olympic Games, which brought a boost in visitor interest in the city. Four museums in Washington, three in Paris, two in New York, two in China, two in Taiwan and one in Vatican City round out the rest of the list.

Click through the gallery above to see all the world’s most visited museums.

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