1,665 Steps and some Flashing Search Lights

The Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, is one of the greatest engineering masterpieces, ever built in the world.  It has become a historical landmark and icon of France and is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the World’s Exhibition of 1889 to commemorate the centenary of the French Revolution. It was designed and built by a famous French engineer Gustave Eiffel.

As evidenced by all of the amazing photographs on the internet the Eiffel Tower is one of the world’s most visited and photographed tourist attractions, attracting thousands of visitors every day.

Some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen of the Eiffel Tower can be found at http://www.phototravels.net/paris/paris-eiffel-tower.html. The man who takes these photographs is an extremely talented photographer, capturing amazing visions with his cameras.

The Eiffel Tower (minus the FM and TV antenna) rises to 300 m /984 ft and at the time of its construction it was the tallest structure in the world. The tower has three platforms: the first at a height of 57 meters, the second at 115 meters, and the third at 276 meters, all providing stunning views of Paris and surrounding Ile-de- France region. The pre-sunset view of Paris from the top platform of the Eiffel Tower is truly an unforgettable experience. The Eiffel Tower also has two restaurants – Altitude 95 and the expensive Jules Verne on the first and second floors of the tower respectively.  On its top platform there is a snack bar, a souvenir shop and a replica of the office of Gustave Eiffel complete with wax figures of the man himself.

The Eiffel Tower in Paris weighs over 7, 300 tonnes and approximately 50 tons of paint are used every 5 years to repaint the structure. At the time of its construction in 1889, it had 1, 710 steps to the summit platform, 1, 920 steps after renovation in the early 1980s, and 1, 665 steps at present. Tourists can only climb as far as the second level via the stairways, and elevators are required to reach the summit. In the year 2000, flashing lights and four high-power searchlights were installed on the tower, and since then spectacular light shows during the evening and night have become a major attraction in Paris.

At the time the tower was built many people were shocked by its daring shape. Eiffel was criticized for the design and accused of trying to create something artistic, or inartistic according to the viewer, without regard to engineering. Eiffel and his engineers, as renowned bridge builders however, understood the importance of wind forces and knew that if they were going to build the tallest structure in the world they had to be certain it would withstand the wind.  The shape of the tower was therefore determined by mathematical calculation involving wind resistance.

The Eiffel Tower: The Three-hundred Metre Tower

Over the years this masterpiece has been struck by lightening (June 3, 1902 at 9:20 pm), plagued with fire (3 January, 1956), sold twice as scrap metal by the con artist Victor Lustig (1925) and many other interesting things.

To learn more about the Eiffel Tower try this informative book.

There have also been about a zillion different tourist souvenirs made to commemorate the tower.  One of the cutest ones I found was this EIFFEL TOWER Miscellaneous Candy Mold Chocolate.  Not only will it make good chocolates, but they will be so cute and decorative.  The hit at any party in Paris… or anywhere for that matter.

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