Eiffel Tower in
Paris
Your Guide to Eiffel
Tower
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was built
in 1889 for the Universal Exhibition. Standing 300 metres high, it was the tallest man-made
structure of its time. The only practical use of the Eiffel Tower is to provide splendid views over
Paris, and its real purpose was to demonstrate that France was a leader in the technical world.
Here you can see some beautiful Pictures of Eiffel
Tower.
The Eiffel Tower was always massively popular with the
public, but not with the artistic elite at the start. The tower could be seen from anywhere in
Paris. The writer Guy de Maupassant detested it so much that he had lunch in the tower restaurant
as often as possible because it was only in the tower itself that you did not have to look at
it.
Two million people visited the Eiffel tower in its first
year and it became ever more popular as the years went by. Looking at the tower became just as
important as looking from the tower. Slowly the Eiffel Tower became the pre-eminent symbol of Paris
and of France. It was painted by important artists and praised by poets and novelists. Hitler
promised to destroy it, but resistance fighters flew the tricolour from the tower while American
tanks were still engaging Panzer tanks in the streets below. Today tourists still flock to the
tower, and terrorists threaten to bomb it. The tower has transcended its physicality to become a
great human symbol. See more information about how to Visit Eiffel Tower.
Viewed from a distance, one is struck by the graceful
shape of the Eiffel Tower. Moving closer, you begin to resolve the detailed structure, the massive
base and the countless rivets that hold the whole thing together. Eiffel produced more than 14,000
square feet of drawings, detailing the 15,000 structural parts and the 2.5 million rivet
holes.
The erection of this 8,000-tonne jigsaw-puzzle by only 250
workers was a feat of genius in itself. The tower was finished in two years, two months and five
days, without a single worker being involved in an accident. Eiffel originally estimated the cost
at $ 1.5 million but built it for 5 per cent less.
The structure of the Eiffel tower is simple. It sits on
four massive buttresses each inclined inwards at an angle of 44 degrees and tied together and
prevented from falling by the first horizontal platform at 180 feet above ground.
Every tower must stand up to wind. One solution is to make
the tower so massive that it always prevails against wind force. The other way is to make the
surface of the tower so minimal that the wind cannot get an effective grip on it. Eiffel relied on
the second method. His tower is a delicate lacework of iron on which the wind can command little
grip. See more about Eiffel Tower
History.
Upon completion, the Eiffel Tower replaced the Washington
Monument as the tallest structure in the world. Visitors to the tower can reach the summit but
require the use of elevators beyond the second floor. In windy conditions, the tower sways between
six to seven centimeters. Millions of people visit it each year. Find out more Eiffel Tower Interesting
Facts.
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