[Curiosities] Five curiosities of the Eiffel Tower

[#Steeven.™]

On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower was inaugurated in Paris, France, and it took five months to build its foundations, as well as 21 to assemble the metal part, which was considered a record.

The construction of the tower is a marvel of precision, as numerous chroniclers have recognized. With a start date of January 1887, the work finished on March 31, 1889. The author of the project Gustave Eiffel was awarded the Legion of Honor on the narrow platform at the top.

Since then, it has become the most international symbol of the French capital, inspiring poets, painters, musicians, filmmakers; men and women from all over the planet who have been seduced to exalt the emblematic structure in films, texts, songs, video game pictures, coins, bills, stamps and the most diverse logos.

Here are five curiosities about the so-called "iron tower":

 

1) Rejected in several European cities

Before being approved in Paris, the Eiffel Tower project was presented in several European cities, including Barcelona, Spain. In all of them it was rejected for not being coherent with the design of the buildings in each of the cities where it was valued.

In the French capital, even before it was finally built, it also generated controversy, since more than 300 artists of the time signed a letter to protest against its construction. Although currently not much is said about it, Spain does regret having lost the opportunity to have the beautiful monument, which is claimed to be six times more expensive than the Colosseum in Rome.

 

2) Limited to 20 years
The Eiffel Tower was built in two years, two months and five days (doubling the time originally planned, although compared to Notre Dame's 180 years, it was a “quick” construction). It was inaugurated in 1889 during the World's Fair of the Universal Exhibition and it was planned to destroy it twenty years later.

However, following the installation by the French Navy of a radio antenna at its highest point for communication purposes, its demolition was canceled after the World's Fair in 1900. During the Nazi occupation of Paris (1940-44 ) the antenna was used for German television broadcasting, and from 1960, it became one of the main tourist attractions in France.

 

3) The tallest building in the world for 41 years
The total height of the tower is 300 meters, which made it the tallest building in the world until 1930, when the Chrysler Building in New York took the place with 319 meters. Later, with the installation of the antenna that it has on top, it reached the 324 meters that it currently looks.

If the aforementioned antenna is not included, the Eiffel Tower continues to be the second tallest construction in France behind the Millau viaduct. And as another curious fact, it should be noted that due to the thermal expansion of the metal, the tower is 18 centimeters higher in summer than in winter.

 

4) Illuminated by 20,000 spotlights
To illuminate the tower at night, it required the installation of 20,000 blinking lights (eight tons and more than 30 kilometers of cables) and 20 climbers who climbed every night for three months. Currently the lights are usually turned off as a sign of mourning or respect in the face of a tragedy, and light up in a special way for different celebrations.

In addition, to prevent corrosion of the material, the building is painted every five years, which is why it has changed its color on many occasions. The color of the tower is based on three tones, with the lightest being painted on the upper part and becoming progressively darker towards the bottom.

 

5) Loved by 6 million visitors
The Eiffel Tower is the symbol of France with an average of almost 6.5 million visitors per year, a higher figure than the number of inhabitants of many countries, for example, Costa Rica.

This makes it the fourth most visited monument in the world behind Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Great Wall of China and the Sydney Opera House.

Loved by so many, it could be unthinkable this other story that happened in 2004 when an American woman named Erika LaBrie visited Paris and fell in love with the tower, so she decided to marry her in 2007 and change her name to Erika Eiffel. She took her marriage so seriously that she decided to found an organization for people who have relationships with inanimate objects.

 

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/torre-eiffel-paris-francia-curiosidades-aniversario-20200327-0045.html