About This Location
Stand under the great iron arches and look up. From here, the Eiffel Tower stops being a skyline icon and starts feeling like a living machine - beams crossing like a giant lattice, with elevators sliding up the legs and wind moving through the metal. The tower was built for the 1889 World’s Fair, and it was originally meant to be temporary. What saved it was usefulness as much as beauty - its height made it perfect for radio and later television signals, so the “temporary” tower stayed. Today it reaches 330 meters thanks to antennas added over time, including a newer one installed in 2022. Now focus on the construction details. The official figures are staggering: 18,038 metal parts, joined by about 2.5 million rivets, with around 7,300 tonnes of iron. It went up fast for something this complex - 2 years, 2 months, and 5 days. Look for a subtle detail many people miss - the engraved names. Around the first level, Gustave Eiffel had the names of 72 French scientists, engineers, and mathematicians added to the tower, like a stone-and-iron tribute to the minds behind modern science. If visiting at night, the tower has its own rhythm. The golden lighting outlines every curve, and the sparkle effect flashes for five minutes at the start of each hour after dark, created by 20,000 small bulbs that flicker like camera flashes. One more behind-the-scenes fact: keeping the tower “effortless” takes constant work. It is repainted about once every seven years, using around 60 tonnes of paint, carefully applied to protect the iron from rust. Next, continue onward through the park, following the main paths as they lead to the next spot.