EiffeL TowEr

9. Eiffel Tower, Paris

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower  is a wroughr iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. it was built in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; millions of people ascend it every year. This tower was designed and built by the engineer Gustave Eiffel and Eiffel Tower's name also after his name.

Eiffel Tower at night

Eiffel Tower

The tower stands 324 meters tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building  in New York City was built in 1930. However, due to the addition, in 1957, of the antenna atop the Eiffel Tower, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building. Not including broadcast antennas it is the second tallest structure in Frace , after the Millan Viaduct.

Top of the Eiffel Tower

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 Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of wrought iron using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin.

Eiffel Tower had a permit for the tower to stand for 20 years; it was to be dismantled in 1909, when its ownership would revert to the City of Paris. The City had planned to tear it down but as the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to remain after the expiry of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line during the First Battle of Marnie.

                                                                    

The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated  on 31 March 1889, and opened on 6 May. The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift, to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level 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 elevator. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

At the top of the tower is a small apartment that was used by Gustave Eiffel to entertain guests. It is visible to all visitors in the form of a reconstructed room, complete with period decorations and lifelike models of Gustave and some guests.