Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed “La dame de fer” (Iron Lady), it was constructed as the centrepiece of the 1889 World’s Fair and to crown the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution.

Construction began on January 26, 1887, and the Tower was finished in record time – 2 years, 2 months and 5 days – established as a veritable technical feat. The plan was to build a tower 300 metres high on the Champ-de-Mars with a square base 125 metres across. When the French government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889 to celebrate the centenary of the French Revolution, more than 100 plans were submitted for a suitable monument, and the Centennial Committee chose that of noted bridge engineer Gustave Eiffel.

Although initially criticised by some of France’s leading artists and intellectuals for its design, it has since become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. At the time, many were against the building and voiced their concern in a letter entitled “Artists Against Mr. Eiffel’s Tower”, stating the tower to be a threat against the aesthetic nature of Paris. Critics hurled insults like “this truly tragic street lamp,” “this belfry skeleton,” and “this mast of iron gymnasium apparatus.”

The tower is 330 metres (1,083 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest human-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930.

The task of drawing the components was complicated by complex angles and the degree of precision required: rivet hole positions were specified to within 1 mm and angles worked out to one second of arc. In all, 18,038 pieces were joined using 2.5 million rivets. Several hundred workers spent two years assembling the framework of the iconic lattice tower.

Originally intended to last only 20 years, it was saved by scientific experiments that Eiffel encouraged, and in particular by the first radio transmissions, followed by telecommunications. City officials opted to save it after recognizing its value as a radiotelegraph station. During World War I, the Eiffel Tower intercepted enemy radio communications, relayed zeppelin alerts and was used to dispatch emergency troop reinforcements.

The tower received 5,889,000 visitors in 2022 and is the most visited monument with an entrance fee in the world. The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. Every evening, the Eiffel Tower is adorned with its golden covering and sparkles for 5 minutes every hour on the hour, while its beacon shines over Paris.