The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.

History

The tower was built from 1887 to 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World’s Fair marking the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. Three hundred workers joined together 18,038 pieces of puddled iron (a very pure form of structural iron), using two and a half million rivets, in a structural design by Maurice Koechlin. The project was not initially well received by Parisians and was almost torn down, but it has since become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.

Construction

The tower stands at 324 meters tall and was the tallest man-made structure in the world until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. It is now one of the most visited tourist attractions in France with millions of visitors each year. Visitors can take an elevator or climb stairs to reach three different levels for observation decks offering spectacular views over Paris.

In popular culture

The Eiffel Tower has been featured prominently in many films and television shows over the years, including Gustave Eiffel, Ratatouille, and Inception.