They said it looked like a hideous factory chimney, it was going to be 1,000 feet tall, way taller than anything else in Paris, and it would be there for 20 years. People also feared it might collapse because railroad bridges had collapsed.
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But though Eiffel's tower planned to set records, it wasn't without controversy. The building was radically industrial, and that chafed against the sensibilities of more refined Parisians.
When the tower began construction, not everyone was happy. In fact, writers and artists singed a letter against the idea of the tower saying it would ruin the skyline and that it would be offensive to the city's great buildings. Being so tall, some feared it would collapse and injure someone or destroy property.
The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be destroyed only 20 years after its construction. To remedy the situation, Gustave Eiffel had the ingenious idea of crediting it with a scientific purpose – the Tower was saved!
It is made of lattice-shaped wrought iron with 20,000 lights. The Eiffel Tower was built for $1.5M in 1889. If we inflation adjust this original cost using CPI, we get $44M. According to a 2012 study by the Chamber of Commerce of Monza and Brianza in northern Italy, it is worth $510 billion.
At first a lot of them hated it because it was so different from all other Parisian architecture: raw iron where everything else was stone. But since then it has become so iconic that it's hard to imagine Paris without it, and everybody is used to it.
The Eiffel Tower was not a gift from France to America, rather it was built for the 1889 World's Fair held in Paris, France. It was the centerpiece of the exposition and very popular with visitors then and now. What was a gift from France to America, on the other hand, was the Statue of Liberty.
Gustave Eiffel Personally Funded Most of the TowerHowever, to attract investors, Eiffel arranged to keep the tower up for twenty years, during which time he could take all the profits from entry fees and restaurant concessions. Eiffel had all of his debts paid off within a mere six months!
Of the many surprising facts about the Tower, perhaps the most shocking of all is that it was never meant to be a permanent structure on the Parisian landscape. Instead, it was intended to be a temporary installation that commemorated the 100 year anniversary of the French Revolution at the 1889 World Fair.
When the tower opened in the 19th century, it was the world's tallest building at 1,024 feet (312.11 meters). The Eiffel Tower has 1,665 stairs and three viewing platforms. Nearly 50 miles of electric cables cover the structure. There are 120 antennas atop the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower is not considered one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. It was a finalist in the contest held by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, however, it was not selected.