History of Eiffel Tower – Introduction of an iron lattice tower

History of Eiffel Tower – Let me introduce you some of the facts of this huge structure, one of the Modern World Wonders at the beginning of our story.

I’m pretty sure that after understanding and comprehension of this statistical information you will get even more astonished by the significance and greatness of this structure for France and for the whole world.

The complete height of the Eiffel Tower including all possible aerials that are installed up to this moment reaches 324 meters. The moment when it was being built and the following 40 years till 1930 it was considered the highest structure in the world. There are three platforms on it that are available for the visitors, at 57, 115 and 276 meters, accordingly. To reach the second platform, there are stairs that count 1792 steps.

Total weight of the 12 000 metal parts which were used to build the Eiffel Tower is 7300 tones. These parts are securely connected with each other and form this amazing structure with the help of 2,5 million of rivets.

Despite the impressiveness in size it the wind doesn’t influence it, and even when it is storming, the top of the structure can only incline 12 cm aside. It the sun that brings more effect on the tower, when one side gets hot and the iron spreads it can incline 18 cm aside.

Every 7 years the Eiffel Tower needs to be painted considering the protection from corrosion. It needs approximately 57 tones of paint, and since the commissioning its color varied from yellow to red-brown.

Throughout the history of the Eiffel Tower it was visited by 240 million of people (6 million people a year) and this fact makes it the most highly visited touristic site in the world.
The first light on the Eiffel Tower appeared on the first day it was opened and it included 10 thousand of gas lamps, a lighthouse at the top of the tower and two spotlights. In 1900 appeared electrical lamps. And when celebrating the new millennium the tower flashed in the form of a necklace that consisted of 20 thousand of lamps so that the citizens and the guests liked it so much that right now at the beginning of each hour the Eiffel Tower is shining during 10 minutes.

For that time the tower was commissioned in a relatively short period, it took 26 months and included also the excavation of the pits and the creation of the base. The opening ceremony was held on March 31, 1889, a month before it should have been actually opened. At the whole, the project presupposed the opening of the Universal Exhibition in Paris and it should have been looking like an entrance arch on the way to the pavilions. The structure that was considered to be quite strange at that moment was a runaway success. During the first half year the Eiffel Tower was visited by 2 million people and by the end of the year they almost managed to reimburse the costs paid for the construction.

According to the agreement with Eiffel, the tower should have been dismounted 20 years later after the exhibition was over. However, since the first days of the structure, there were many opponents, and primarily, they were represented by French intelligentsia. Famous writers and artists wrote a lot of objection letters to the town council and claimed that this “factory chimney” or this “skeleton made of iron and screws” that dominates the city should be pulled down.

To tell the truth, the industrial silhouette of the Eiffel Tower it’s indeed doesn’t go perfectly with centuries-long history of Paris. But if we try to separate the image of this huge structure from the beautiful and stylish architecture of the capital of France we will see all the charm and beauty of this “wonderful iron lattice tower”.

In course of time the fervor has subsided, everyone got used to see the Tower high above the city and those who disliked the building put it up completely and stopped being indignant.