17 Interesting Eiffel Tower Facts You Should Know

Eiffel Tower, the Iconic Iron structure in the heart of Paris, is arguably one of the most recognizable monuments in the world. The designer, Gustave Eiffel boastfully compared it to the Pyramids of Giza in terms of architectural brilliance. No matter what the truth is, the Eiffel tower attracts more visitors than any other paid tourist attractions in the world. There are so many interesting and useful Eiffel Tower Facts. Here I present some of the notable Eiffel Tower facts that you should know:

1. The construction of the Eiffel Tower begun on February 1887 and it was completed after 2 years 2 months and 5 days on March 1889.

2. One of the most notable Eiffel Tower facts is that the tower was originally built to be the entrance arch of the 1889 world’s fair for celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French republic.

3. It was designed by the team led by French designer and architect Gustave Eiffel after whom the tower is named. He also contributed in the design of the Statue of Liberty in New York.

4. One of the most talked about Eiffel Tower facts is its height. The tower is total 1050 feet (328 meters) tall and was the tallest man made structure in the world for 41 years until it was surpassed by Chrysler building in 1930 and the empire states building in 1931.

5. The tower has 18,000 iron parts which were made separately in workshops and then assembled in the site using 2,500,000 rivets. Total iron used in the tower weights 7,300 tons and the total weight of the tower is approximately 10,000 tones.

6. The tower has three accessible platforms. The base platform is 190 feet above the ground; the middle platform is 376 feet, and the top platform is 900 above ground.

7. The Eiffel tower is 108 stories with total 1710 stair steps to the small platform on the top of the tower. There are 347 steps to the first level platform, 674 steps to the second level platform. However, the tourists are usually only allowed to climb the stairs up to the first platform.

8. One of the very interesting Eiffel Tower facts is that the two huge elevators that take the visitors to the upper platforms cover a distance of 103,000 kilometers a year.

9. From the top platform of the tower up to 42 miles in every direction is perfectly visible on a clear and sunny day.

10. The tower is painted every 7 years for protection from rusts and about 50 tons of paint is needed to paint the entire tower. The three level of the tower is painted in three different shades of brown, from darkest at the base to brightest at the top.

11. One of the very interesting Eiffel Tower facts is that 4 tons of dusters and cleaning clothes, 400 liters of detergents and 25,000 bin bags are needed to clean the Eiffel tower every year.

12. Today, there are more than 5 billion lights in the Eiffel tower. Can you believe it! The beacon sends light beam more than 8- kilometers away. The towers 20,000 sparkling golden lights light up the sky every night. The best place to see the light show is from Place du Trocadéro.

13. The tower was used in both world wars by the military for transmitting and receiving radio signals. Today it houses 120 antennas serving telecommunication, television and radio purposes.

14. The tower also houses two restaurants, several buffets, a banquet hall, a champagne bar and many unique gift shops.

15. The Eiffel tower was not well received by the locals when it was constructed for its bold and unorthodox design and was intended to be dismantled after 20 years. But over time, people of Paris fell in love the tower and that never happened.

16. The Eiffel tower is called La Tour Eiffel in French. It also has the nickname La dame de fer meaning the iron lady.

17. Open for tourists 365 days a year, almost7 million people visit the Eiffel tower each year. Over 250 million visitors visited the Eiffel tower since its opening. Today it is the most visited monument in the world.

These are some of the top useful and interesting Eiffel Tower facts. I hope these facts will make you more and more interested in exploring Eiffel Tower.