Eiffel Tower is one of 7 wonders of the world made by human hand. One can freely say that it is a symbol of human construction and architecture. Also free is the Eiffel Tower can be said about the pride of France.
The Eiffel Tower is a 19th century iron
lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris that has become both
a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in
the world. The Eiffel Tower, which is the tallest building in Paris, is
the single most visited paid monument in the world; millions of people
ascend it every year. Named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel,
the tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World’s Fair.
The tower stands at 324 m tall, about
the same height as an 81-story building. It was the tallest structure in
the world from its completion until 1930, when it was eclipsed by the
Chrysler Building in New York City. Not including broadcast antennas, it
is the second-tallest structure in France, behind the Millau Viaduct,
completed in 2004. And while the Eiffel Tower is an iron structure, and
weighs approximately 10,000 tonnes, it actually has a relatively low
density, weighing less than a cylinder of air occupying the same
dimensions as the tower.
The tower has three levels for visitors.
Tickets can be purchased to ascend either on stairs or lifts to the
first and second levels. The walk to the first level is over 300 steps,
as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest
level is accessible only by lift. Both the first and second levels
feature restaurants.
The tower has become the most prominent
symbol of both Paris and France. The tower is a featured part of the
backdrop in literally scores of movies that take place in Paris. Its
iconic status is so established that it even serves as a symbol for the
entire nation of France, such as when it was used as the logo for the
French bid to host the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The structure was built between 1887 and
1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World’s
Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Eiffel
originally planned to build the tower in Barcelona, for the Universal
Exposition of 1888, but those responsible at the Barcelona city hall
thought it was a strange and expensive construction, which did not fit
into the design of the city. After the refusal of the Consistory of
Barcelona, Eiffel submitted his draft to those responsible for the
Universal Exhibition in Paris, where he would build his tower a year
later, in 1889. The tower was inaugurated on 31 March 1889, and opened
on 6 May. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled
iron, using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by
Maurice Koechlin.
The risk of accident was great, for
unlike modern skyscrapers the tower is an open frame without any
intermediate floors except the two platforms. However, because Eiffel
took safety precautions, including the use of movable stagings,
guard-rails and screens, only one man died.
Eiffel Tower Construction view:
girders at the first story
Eiffel Tower Construction view:
girders at the first story
Novelist Guy de Maupassant—who claimed
to hate the tower supposedly ate lunch in the Tower’s restaurant every
day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris
where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely
considered to be a striking piece of structural art.
One of the great Hollywood movie clichés
is that the view from a Parisian window always includes the tower. In
reality, since zoning restrictions limit the height of most buildings in
Paris to 7 stories, only a very few of the taller buildings have a
clear view of the tower.
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