Why is the Eiffel Tower special to the French?

For 130 years, the Eiffel Tower has been a powerful and distinctive symbol of the city of Paris, and by extension, of France. At first, when it was built for the 1889 World's Fair, it impressed the entire world by its stature and daring design, and symbolized French know-how and industrial genius.



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The Eiffel Tower — or, la Tour Eiffel — has long been one of the world's most recognizable landmarks, symbolizing the romance and ingenuity of the City of Light.

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High-minded critics in France attacked the Eiffel Tower as it was being built, lobbing the most excruciating insult they could come up with. It was, they sputtered, positively awful, something even those uncouth Americans wouldn't embrace. Sacre bleu, mon dieu, and zut alors!

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What Are the 11 Most Interesting Facts About the Eiffel Tower?
  • It Was Designed by Gustave Eiffel. ...
  • It Took 22 Months to Complete. ...
  • The Eiffel Tower Is Made of Iron. ...
  • The Eiffel Tower Has Three Floors. ...
  • It's as heavy as an Entire Freight Train. ...
  • The Eiffel Tower Has to be Repainted Every 7 Years.


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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.

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The Seven Wonders of the World are a group of places around the globe that are considered to be of great importance. These are: The Colosseum in Italy, Petra in Jordan, Chichén Itzá in Mexico, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Machu Picchu in Peru, Taj Mahal in India and The Great Wall of China.

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McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park, California. Burney Falls is a year-round 129 foot waterfall that is fed from an underground spring. The spectacular waterfall was allegedly nicknamed, The Eighth Wonder of the World by the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909).

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The Eiffel Tower's lighting and sparkling lights are protected by copyright, so professional use of images of the Eiffel Tower at night requires prior authorization and may be subject to a fee.

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His name probably doesn't speak to you, and yet Victor Lustig was one of the greatest crooks of his time. His biggest scam? Having successfully sold the Eiffel Tower to a scrap dealer. At what price ?

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In fact, the Tower has been repainted for over 130 years, about once every 7 years. So if it is repainted, the Eiffel Tower can last... forever.

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The world would have to wait more than forty years before seeing the Tower dethroned by the Chrysler Building in New York (319 m), which was overtaken in 1949 by the Empire State Building (381 m).

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Here are 10 interesting facts about Paris. The Eiffel Tower was supposed to be a temporary installation, intended to stand for 20 years after being built for the 1889 World Fair. Paris was originally a Roman City called “Lutetia.” It's believed that Paris only has one stop sign in the entire city.

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The Eiffel Tower's Illuminations. Every evening, the Eiffel Tower is adorned with its golden covering and sparkles for 5 minutes every hour on the hour, while its beacon shines over Paris.

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Originally, the Tower was painted Venice red, then reddish-brown because of the minium (also called “red lead”) often used in paint at the time for its protective qualities for iron.

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During World War I—a worldwide conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918—the French military used the tower's radio and telegraph center to communicate with ground troops and battleships. It also intercepted enemy messages. In 1916 the tower picked up a message about a female spy known as the Mata Hari.

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City of Paris ownership Today, the City of Paris owns the Tower and has entrusted its management to a development company (SETE: Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel) of which it owns 99% of the capital. Bertrand Lemoine is an architect, engineer and historian.

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