Inaugurated in the year of the Centenary of the French Revolution
On March 31, 1889, the so-called "300-meter tower" was inaugurated and became the highlight of the Paris World's Fair. It is called "the Eiffel Tower" after its brilliant designer, Gustave Eiffel, 57 years old, already well known for his audacious constructions and whose project was chosen among 107 others. The Tower 2,500,000 rivets, 18,000 parts, 7,300 tons of iron, 60 tons of paint... Ah and 20,000 light bulbs today.
Gustave Eiffel en 1893
It attracts more than 7,000,000 visitors per year.
It took 2 years and 5 months of construction to realize this marvel. Gustave was not alone, there were many miners to extract the metal, workers to build it, and engineers to solve the many problems of this architectural challenge of course but also scientific! Foundations had to be dug as never before, the shape and materials had to be adapted to the wind, the cold, the heat, in short, Nature had to be taken into account. In the spirit of the time, all this was only temporary. It was the radio that saved the Eiffel Tower when it became a gigantic transmitter a few years later. Fortunately!
La Tour Eiffel / photo Catarina Belova/Shutterstock.com
In 2019, excluding covid, the Eiffel Tower has more than 7,000,000 visitors. It is today the most famous symbol of Paris and France. And it does us honor since the largest Frenchwoman in the world, in addition to being the tower of the Audacity, of a solidity to any test, it is beautiful!
Forgive our translator for the mistakes, his mother-in-law arrived at his house and he is all stressed out
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FAQ Eiffel Tower
Who designed the Eiffel Tower and why?
Gustave Eiffel, with engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, designed it to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution at the 1889 Universal Exhibition.
How tall was the Eiffel Tower when it was built, and how high is it today?
Originally, it measured 312 m; today, with the antennas, it reaches around 330 m, depending on the year and conditions.
How long did it take to build the Eiffel Tower?
The Tower was built in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, from January 1887 to March 1889.
What was the initial cost and public reception in Paris?
Construction cost around 7.8 million francs at the time, and many Parisians, artists and intellectuals criticized its presence as a "monstrosity".
How did the Eiffel Tower survive after the Universal Exhibition?
Thanks to its usefulness as a radio and then telegraph antenna, it became indispensable and was saved from demolition.
