Top secrets of the Eiffel Tower
As everyone knows, the Eiffel Tower is the most famous monument of Paris, and symbol of the French capital... although it hides many secrets!
The city of love, is one of the most beautiful and visited in the world. It radiates splendor and art at every step and along the Seine run ships in which hundreds of lovers travel every day. And it is on the banks of the Seine that we find the highest Parisian monument: the Eiffel Tower.
The author: Alexandre Gustáve Eiffel
It is known that the Eiffel Tower is a structure that was designed by the French engineer Alexandre Gustáve Eiffel. The reason for its construction was the celebration of the 1889 Universal Exhibition in the city of Paris to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. The idea was for the monument to serve as an entrance arch and a focal point for visitors to the popular exhibition. The architectural landmark works, which astonished the world with their size and majesty, began on January 28, 1887 and took two years to complete, costing almost eight million francs at the time, and involved 250 workers and 50 engineers.
Do you want to discover its secrets?
The secret apartment in the tower
Inside the tower is hidden a secret apartment that Gustave Eiffel included in his designs. A private space of 90 m2 for him alone, at the top, near the dome.
When the tower was inaugurated the apartment was a secret, the public could only access the observatory, not further up, so nobody noticed. But, once the Exhibition started, Gustave invited certain personalities, such as Thomas Edison, which made the Parisian elite of the time envious.
It is said that they offered him large sums of money to stay one night in the apartment, although he always refused. When Eiffel lost the concession for the tower, the apartment was closed to the public and fell into oblivion. Fortunately, today space can be seen from the outside, through a window, and has remained just as it was. Unlike the iron structure, the space is cozy, with wallpaper on the walls, beautiful wooden furniture, oil paintings, beautiful armchairs and chairs, carpets and even a grand piano.
More secrets!
- This imposing metal structure had an expiration date. It was conceived as a temporary construction, whose deadline would be the year 1900; after that it would be completely dismantled. At the time, this new work generated an enormous rejection among Parisians, who acclaimed its demolition. However, the army discovered that the tower was a privileged environment for the installation of radio antennas, so the practical use, revealed by the military forces, allowed its continuity. Can you imagine Paris without the Eiffel Tower?
- Nicknamed "La Dame de Fer" (the Iron Lady), it was the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years, until the Chrysler Building was built in New York. The total height of the tower is 324 meters, including the antenna at the top; without it, the Eiffel Tower is only 300 meters high.
- Such was the admiration that people felt as soon as the tower was finished, and although the elevators were not in operation until 20 days after its inauguration, people lined up to walk up the stairs, paying an entrance fee of two francs to visit the first level, three francs to go up to the second level and five francs to go up to the observatory located further up. To do this, they had to climb 1,710 steps
- The Eiffel Tower weighs 10,000 tons and has 5,000,000,000 lights.
- In August 1944, during the German occupation, shortly before the liberation of Paris, the French cut the elevator cables so that Hitler would have to climb the stairs. He did not manage to do so and when the Allied troops approached Paris, he ordered his military governor Dietrich von Choltitz (German, but with French ancestors) to shoot it down, but he refused to do so... to the fortune of all Parisians.
- In its installations there are antennas for F.M and TV broadcasting and 50 tons of paint are needed every five years to protect it.
- It is the most visited monument in the world, according to its official website. Seven million people visit the monument every year and almost 250 million have done so since it was inaugurated.