10 Secrets about The Eiffel Tower

Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument in the world and you can’t imagine skipping the visit to Eiffel Tower when you’re in Paris. The Tower turned 130 this year and its 130th anniversary was celebrated with the beautiful light and sound show. The tower is also known by the name of Iron Lady and is the symbol of Love and Romance. Eiffel Tower was named after its designer Gustavo Eiffel.

When Eiffel tower was completed it was the tallest structure in the world which was built by man and it remained the tallest structure for the next 40 years. During its first days of operation near about 30000 people climbed the stairs, before the installing of elevators. Later on, 20000 light bulbs were installed to display the light show every night.  Now to celebrate tower’s anniversary, let’s talk about its 10 secrets that you probably didn’t know about.

1. Eiffel Tower took 2 years, 2month and 5 days to get complete. It was a record time at the end of the 1880s. The official completion date of the tower is 31st March 1889.

2. The tower was built to last for only 20 years. The main purpose behind its construction was to celebrate 100 years of French Revolution.

3. It was not always bronze in color, earlier it was repainted yellow and up to 1954 until 1961 it had a brownish red color.

4. During the 1920s and 1930’s the tower was used as a billboard. Three sides of the tower were covered by the letters of Citroen. No other has ever used the tower as an advertising tool.

5. During its initial stages, the tower was hated by the local population. They used to think of it as a useless and monstrous creation.

6. The tower was used to transmit the signal at the time of world war with the help of Antenna on its top. Which helped the French army to move in front.

7. In 1889, a print shop was created on the second floor of the tower by the French newspaper Le Figaro.

8. It has been proved that the Eiffel Tower shrinks. Measurements which were made during winters state that it has become shorter by 4 to 8 inches.

9. The Eiffel Tower hosts near about 7 million tourists every year. Which makes it the most visited monument of the world which has an entry fee.

10. Every night the tower is covered with the beautiful gold and white lights for the whole 5 minutes. The best place to see the light show is from the square Trocadero.

So, these were some secrets about the Eiffel tower which most of the people may not know. I hope this could help you in getting more knowledge about the tower and make sure when you next time visits Paris, you don’t require a tour guide to the Eiffel Tower. Enjoy!