Interesting Facts About the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is one of the most iconic architectural landmarks, annually visited by millions of tourists. It is the most recognizable symbol of France, known worldwide. Here are some interesting facts about this architectural masterpiece:
- The tower is named after its creator — architect Gustave Eiffel. Interestingly, Eiffel himself simply referred to it as the "300-meter tower." Another popular nickname is the "Iron Lady."
- The height of the tower, including the new antenna, is 324 meters. At the time of its opening in 1889, its height was 312 meters.
- For over forty years, the Eiffel Tower remained the tallest structure in the world.
- The tower consists of three levels located at different heights: 1st level — 57 meters; 2nd level — 115 meters; 3rd level — 276 meters.
- Architect Eiffel was tasked with building a tower that would serve as the entrance arch for the 1889 Paris World's Fair.
- The time frame was tight — only two years. Such complex structures had never been erected before. However, the architect managed to meet the challenge by developing and implementing special construction methods.
- Eiffel decided to assemble the tower like a constructor, using mostly pre-made parts. He had holes drilled in these parts in advance for rivets and even pre-riveted two-thirds of the 2.5 million rivets needed for the tower.
- To lift the metal parts, the architect used tall cranes, and when the structure surpassed their height, specially designed mobile cranes took over. They moved along tracks laid for future elevators.
- Remarkably, there were no fatal accidents during the tower's construction.
- It was anticipated that the tower would stand for 20 years and then be dismantled. But even within those 20 years, the structure was supposed to be safe and resistant to the corrosive effects of corrosion and temperature fluctuations.
- Gustave Eiffel considered all possible risks. He understood that the main threat to his creation was the wind. Therefore, he devised a special tower design that allowed air currents to pass through unhindered and dry its surface after rain. The construction withstood all tests. During a hurricane in 1999, when wind speeds exceeded 200 kilometers per hour, the top of the tower only swayed 19 centimeters.
- The total cost of constructing the tower was 7.8 million francs. It was a huge sum, but it paid off in the first years — in just the first six months of the exhibition, over two million visitors came to see the "iron lady." In the following years, the flow of tourists did not diminish.
- Interestingly, the elite of France, its best minds — writers and artists, were outraged by Eiffel's project. They expressed concerns that the metal structure would stifle the city's architecture, disrupting the unique style of the capital that had developed over centuries.
- In 1887, immediately, 300 writers and artists (including Alexandre Dumas the Younger, Guy de Maupassant, and composer Charles Gounod) sent a protest to the municipality, characterizing the structure as "useless and monstrous," as "a laughable tower dominating Paris like a gigantic factory chimney."
- Despite this, Guy de Maupassant regularly dined at the restaurant on the first level of the tower (now the restaurant "Le 58 Tour Eiffel"). When asked why he did this if he disliked the tower, the writer replied, "It's the only place in all of Paris where you can't see it."
- After 20 years, the decision to dismantle the Eiffel Tower was reconsidered. One of the reasons for this decision was the emergence of radio. Antennas were placed at the top of the tower. Later, radio and television programs began broadcasting from there. Broadcasting continues to this day, and now cellular communication has also joined television and radio broadcasting. Additionally, a unique weather station is located on the tower, which is used to study daily fluctuations in air pollution, radiation levels, atmospheric electricity, and more.
- The tower has its own patented signature "Eiffel brown" color, resembling bronze. But before settling on the color, the tower was repainted multiple times in various colors, from yellow to red-brown.
- Every seven years, 25 mountaineer painters repaint the tower over the course of 18 months. It takes 60 tons of paint for its new "attire."
- Today, the Eiffel Tower has completely transformed from a gray structure into a proudly illuminated symbol of Paris from all sides. The lighting was first turned on in 1889, on the day of its opening — it consisted of 10,000 gas lamps, two projectors, and a beacon installed at the top of the tower, the light of which was colored blue, white, and red — the colors of the French national flag.
- In 1900, gas lamps were replaced with electric ones. And in 1925, the enterprising André Citroën, the same one who created the CITROËN concern, placed luminous advertising on the tower, which he called "Eiffel Tower in lights."
- Ten images flashed one after another on the tower, consisting of 125,000 light bulbs: the silhouette of the tower, a starry rain, a comet flight, zodiac signs, the year the tower was built, the current year.
- During World War II, the tower did not succumb to the fascists: when Hitler entered Paris in 1940, the French disabled the elevator. As a result, the Germans could not reach the top of the tower and hang their flag.
- Daredevils have always used the tower to perform crazy stunts, which sometimes ended tragically: aviator Léon Collot attempted to fly between the tower's supports but crashed into the antenna and died. Tailor Franz Reichelt jumped from the first level (63 meters) with a self-designed parachute cloak. The parachute did not open, and the inventor perished.
- The 300-meter tower often attracted suicides, and a significant number of suicides occurred here. Therefore, special services constantly monitor visitors to the Eiffel Tower. One suicide attempt is retold as a legend: supposedly, a woman who jumped from the tower landed on the roof of a car, whose owner she later married.
