Eiffel Tower: The Iron Lady

Here we list some amazing facts about the Eiffel Tower of Paris.

Tower Design

Gustave Eiffel (Image source: www.blogspot.com)

The Eiffel Tower was designed and built by the French engineer and bridge builder Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in Paris in 1889. It took about two years, two months and five days to build the tower, which was considered a leap towards both technical and architectural advancement.

Structure

Image source: www.wordpress.com

The Eiffel Tower is 320 metres (1050 feet) in height and was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years before the Chrysler Building in New York. The Tower is made of iron and weighs about 10000 tonnes. About 50 tonnes of paint is added to the Eiffel Tower every 7 years to protect it from rust.

Sparkling Tower

Image source: www.blackiewarner.com

The Eiffel Tower has 20,000 light bulbs which sparkle for 5 minutes after every hour. Surprisingly, it is illegal to take a photograph of the tower at night because the light display is considered an artwork protected by copyright law.

Visitors

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Since it opened in 1889, almost 250 million visitors have come to see the tower until today. It is estimated that almost 7 million people visit every year, 75% of whom are foreigners, making it the most visited monument in the world. Visitors can climb the stairs to the first level or take a lift which has access to the third and highest level.

Popularity

Image source: www.businessinsider.com 

The Eiffel Tower was originally designed to last for 20 years. It was built by Eiffel to honour the French Revolution and to show off France’s industrial strength. The fact that the tower could be used as a wireless telegraph transmitter made it useful and saved it from being destroyed.

Tejal Mistry