Curiosities

11 curiosities about the "Iron Lady" in Paris:


  1. Until 1930 it was the tallest monument in the world, then surpassed by the Chrysler Building in New York. Today the tallest building in the word is the Burj Kalifa in Dubai.



  1. Initially it was to be built in Barcelona.

3. The first visitors to the tower were the English royal family and the actor Buffalo Bill.


4. At its inauguration it was highly criticized, and the Parisians nicknamed it "the iron asparagus".


5. On the day of the inauguration, Eiffel went up all the stairs to hoist the French flag at the top of the tower.


6. The elevators of the Eiffel Tower travel about 103.000 km per year, equal to 2 and a half times the circumference of the Earth.

7. At the top of the tower it’s possible to visit Eiffel's private room where the engineer used to admire the sunset.


8. The names of 72 international French scientists and engineers are engraved at the base of the tower.


9. It has changed color several times. It was initially brick red, while in 1899 it was painted in five different colors, from orange to yellow. Since 1968 it has been bronze-colored, but every seven years it needs a repaint to avoid deterioration due to rust. 60 tons of paint are used for an area of 250 thousand square meters.


10. The structure can shorten by 15 cm in winter due to the low temperatures, while in the warmer months it can expand up to 18 cm.

11. The Eiffel Tower has been reproduced around 30 times in the world. Among the most original, the one from Texas, with a cowboy hat on the top (photo on the left), similar to that of Las Vegas, part of the Paris Las Vegas casino (photo in the middle). And there is a reproduction also in Italy: in Rutigliano, in the province of Bari, there is a small copy 27 meters high (photo on the right).

If you want to see the Tour Eiffel's landscape in a movie this link is for you ! Superman movie .