25 Fascinating Facts About Eiffel Tower You Probably Didn’t Know

Eiffel Tower is one of the most popular monuments located in Paris, France. Millions of people visit Paris to see this man-made tower. It is estimated that over 300 million have visited the monuments since it was opened for the public. The monument was initially hated by people and a group of around 300 artists, sculptors, and architects sent a petition to the commissioner of Paris to halt the construction. But the petition was ignored and now we have a beautiful place to visit in Paris.

Also see: Tallest Statues in the World

When you are at its feet, you will be surely impressed with its height. This architectural beauty also holds a few interesting facts to know. In this article, I am listing a few facts about the Eiffel Tower. I am sure many of those are unknown to you.

Facts About Eiffel Tower

1. Eiffel Tower completed on March 31, 1889. When it was made, Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest man-made structure and remained the same for the next 41 years.
2. It took two years, two months, and five days to build the tower.
3. Eiffel Tower was supposed to be a temporary installation for the 1889 World Fair that held in Paris to celebrate 100 years of the French Revolution.
4. The Eiffel Tower is made up of wrought iron and it weighs 10,000 tons approximately.
5. The tower comprises 18,000 metallic parts, joined together by 2.5 million rivets
6. Eiffel Tower is 324 meters tall (including antennas).
7. The height of the Eiffel Tower varies by 5.9 inches (15 cm) due to temperature changes. It also sways around 6 to 7 centimeters in the wind.
8. Gustave Eiffel, the engineer, and architect behind the tower, also build the interior elements of the Statue of Liberty.
9. Eiffel Tower was not designed by Gustave Eiffel but by two engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier who worked in his company.
10. The Tower welcomes almost 7 million people a year. It makes Eiffel Tower the most visited paid-for monument in the world.
11. It takes 1665 steps to climb to the top but most people take the lift. It costs €19 to take the lift to the top.
12. According to the website livescience.com, the lift here travels 103,000 kilometers each year. It is two and a half times the circumference of the earth.
13. The Tower was actually made just to stand for 20 years, but it was never taken down because a wireless telegraph transmitter was built at the top of the Tower. It is still used to beam radio and TV broadcasts around the world.
14. Many prominent thinkers protested vehemently against Eifel Tower when it was built by calling it ‘a gigantic black smokestack’ that would ruin the beauty of Paris.
15. In 1902, the lightning strike damaged the upper section of the Eiffel Tower. It was later reconstructed. This fixing also increased the height by 17ft.
16. Con artist Victor Lustig “sold” the Eiffel Tower to a scrap metal dealer.
17. In 1944, Hitler ordered the military governor to demolish the tower but he refused.
18. During WW2 when Hitler visited Paris, French people cut the lift cables so that Hilter would have to climb if he wanted to reach the top of the tower.
19. Eiffel Tower is repainted every seven years and it requires 60 tonnes of paint. The Tower has been repainted 18 times. They still use the old method when workers use a paintbrush and a bucket. No mechanical painting is allowed there.
20. It is technically illegal to photograph the Eiffel Tower at night. Even sharing the photo will land you in the hot water. If you want to publish the photo of the Eiffel Tower at night, you must gain permission from the ‘Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel’.
21. An American called Erika Aya married to Eiffel Tower in a commitment ceremony in 2007. She also prefers to be called Erika Eiffel.
22. There are over 30 replicas of the Eiffel Tower around the world. You can check the full list here on the Wikipedia page.
23. It has 5000 light bulbs on each side of the structure and a total of 20000 light bulbs are there. These bulbs are switched on for 5 minutes every hour beginning at nightfall and turned off at 1 AM.
24. Maurice Koechlin who was one of the main engineers of the project was related to Andre Koechlin, the great-grandfather of Kalki Koechlin, the Bollywood actress.
25. The massive iron structure of the Eiffel Tower is wind resistant and can be sway during a storm. The wind can make the enormous Tower move and the heat of the sun makes the iron expand and contract up to 7 inches.

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