The Birth of the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower. La Dame de Fer. The Iron Lady.
She rises 330 meters above Paris. Impossible to miss. Without her, Paris feels incomplete.
She was born in 1889. Built for the World’s Fair. A gift for the French Revolution’s 100th birthday. Gustave Eiffel got the fame. But the real engineers? Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier. Quiet men. Their names almost forgotten.
A Monster or a Masterpiece
At first, people hated her. Artists, critics, intellectuals. They mocked her. Called her useless. Monstrous. A scar on Paris.
And yet when she opened, crowds rushed in. 30,000 in the first days. No elevators then. Just steps. Climbing up. Legs aching. Heart? Beating fast. Still, they wanted the view.
Almost Destroyed, Then Saved
The tower wasn’t built forever. Only a 20-year permit. After that, she was meant to be dismantled. Melted down into scrap.
But Eiffel was clever. He argued she was useful for science. Wireless signals. Experiments. Then came World War I. Her radio station intercepted enemy messages. The “ugly monster” suddenly became a national treasure.
By 1964, she was a historic monument. By 1991, a UNESCO World Heritage jewel. From hated to celebrated.
A Closer Look at the Iron Lady
Look close. She is made of 18,038 iron parts. Held together by 2.5 million rivets. Precision so fine, each hole within a millimeter.
She weighs 10,100 tons. Yet if you melted her down, she’d barely fill the base six centimeters deep. All that size. All that power. Still, just iron and air.
Levels of Wonder
She has three levels for visitors.
The first and second floors have restaurants, decks, exhibitions. 674 steps if you’re brave. Or just take the elevator.
The top is different. At 276 meters, the view is unreal. The highest public platform in Europe. Gustave Eiffel even had a small apartment there. Imagine Thomas Edison sipping wine in that little room, Paris sparkling below.
Changing Colors, Same Spirit
Her colors changed over time. Once reddish. Then yellow. Since 1968, she wears her famous brown. Painted in a gradient. Darker at the base, lighter at the top. Blending with the sky.
Every seven years, a repaint. 60 tons of paint. Always the same ritual. No shortcuts. No step-by-step PDF. Just patience and iron care.
Visiting the Eiffel Tower
Millions visit every year. Long lines, always. Better to buy tickets online. Go early morning or late at night. Easier, calmer.
Getting there? Simple. Metro or RER takes you straight to her feet.
The Tower That Refused to Die
The Eiffel Tower. Once mocked. Now loved. She was supposed to vanish after 20 years. Instead, she became eternal. A story of doubt, struggle, survival, and finally, success.
