10 most interesting facts about the Eiffel Tower

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

On October 25, 1889, the construction of the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris. Today it is one of the most famous and visited sights in the world, moreover, a real symbol of the French capital.

We decided to share little-known, but very interesting facts about this beautiful structure.

Eiffel did not plan that its construction would last more than a hundred years.

• The tibia was used as a prototype for the construction of the tower. Engineer Gustav Eiffel carefully studied it and applied all the developments of nature for architectural purposes.
• Eiffel did not plan that its construction would last more than a hundred years. Initially, his project was built in memory of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution as an exhibit for the World Exhibition of Technology and Engineering - or rather, as an entrance arch to this exhibition. After 20 years, the tower was to be dismantled.

• At the time of the official opening, the tower became the tallest structure in the world. Only 40 years later this title was beaten by the Chrysler skyscraper.
• Despite the enormous height of the tower, only one worker crashed during its construction.

The Eiffel Tower is painted in 3 shades of bronze.

• The Eiffel Tower appears to be monochromatic, but in fact it is painted in 3 shades of bronze (from dark at the bottom to light at the top). The illusion of monotony arises at the expense of perspective. The paint of the building is renewed every 7 years, and this is done entirely by hand.
• Gustave Eiffel immortalized the names of 72 famous French engineers, scientists and mathematicians of those times in the tower. At one time, all the names were painted over, but then they were restored again.

• During the war, the French, even giving the city to the German invaders, decided to prevent them from reaching the top of the tower and disabled the elevators so that they could not admire the view of the fallen city.
• The tower was sold twice, and by the same person - the fraudster Victor Lustig. In 1925, he convinced two different people to help finance the tower as the city could no longer support it. Lustig even insisted on a bribe so the client could win the city's prestigious bidding competition. Having received the money, the swindler disappeared, and after a few years he tried to repeat the same trick, but unsuccessfully.

If you post a photo of the illuminated tower, you are breaking French law.

• The Eiffel Tower cannot be photographed at night. To do this, you must obtain written permission from SETE, which maintains the tower. The object of copyright is not the tower itself, but its nighttime illumination. And if you post a photo of the illuminated tower, you are breaking French law.
• Many smaller copies of the Eiffel Tower are scattered all over the world. Las Vegas, Copenhagen, Gaunzhou, Slobozia, Varna, Vietnam and even the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan have their own towers.