When Gustave Eiffel built the tower in 1889, it was intended as a temporary landmark and far from being the Parisian people’s favourite monument.
The Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world when it was unveiled at the 1889 Paris Universal Exhibition. Although its height has since been surpassed by nearly a dozen skyscrapers, it remains one of the world’s top tourist attractions.
The huge and majestic structure is 324 meters high and consists of 18,000 puddles of iron. During construction, critics called Eiffel’s design a nuisance and predicted that construction costs would be too high. Crews assembled the 18,000 pieces in iron in a single day. The building first had to be manufactured in a factory in Saint-Germain-sur-Loire, France. The name of who contributed to the construction was engraved on the tower, as well as the names of all the engineers, scientists and mathematicians.
Despite what some protesters described as a disgrace to Paris, the Eiffel Tower is revered by the majority of cities around the world. Gustave Eiffel, however, was able to secure his future by finding practical uses for his creation.
The aim of this metal structure was to show other nations the power and industrial capacity of France.
How long did the construction of the Eiffel Tower take? About two years. Construction of the Eiffel Tower began on January 28, 1887 and was completed on March 31, 1889.
