Happy birthday to the Eiffel Tower! Last week this massive structure turned 125 years ago. More than 250 million have visited it over the years. Despite the fact that the Eiffel Tower is a well-known piece of France, not many people know much about it.
The idea of the Eiffel Tower came about in 1884. It took two years and two months to build and was officially completed on March 31, 1889. It was named after the architect that built it, Gustave Eiffel. He actually had a room built just for himself on the top floor and visitors can still take a peek at it today.
Details
The Eiffel Tower is 1063 feet high, which is around 81 stories tall. It held the record for being the tallest man-made structure in the world for 41 years. It is made of iron and weighs 10,000 tons.
Upkeep
Just like with any structure that is made of metal, the Eiffel Tower can rust if it’s not taken care of properly. In order to protect it, every 7 years it is painted with 50 tons of paint to keep it from rusting. The cost for the paint is over five million dollars.
Uses
The Eiffel Tower isn’t just used as a tourist attraction. It was originally built so that it would be the World’s Fair entrance arch in 1889. Since then it has been used as an observation tower and broadcasting tower. The Eiffel Tower also has a printing press that is located on the second floor. Visitors can pay a small fee and actually have their name printed on a copy of the newspaper.
Location
If you want to see the Eiffel Tower you will have to travel to Paris, France. It is located beside the Seine River on the Champ de Mars. It can pretty much be accessed by most modes of transportation including bus, bike, car and even boat.
It’s a great time of year to visit Paris and the Eiffel Tower. The flowers are blooming, the weather is cool and it tends to not to be as crowded during this time of year. Just remember that you will need to purchase a ticket to actually go inside of the Eiffel Tower. Tickets cost around $20 for lift entrance tickets that take you to the top and for those that are brave enough to climb the stairs, tickets only run about $7. Interested in seeing the Eiffel Tower? Click to view our escorted France tours.
