She has always been extravagant, loved to shock and amaze the audience with bold ideas, she was loved and hated, people died for her, married her… It is impossible to believe, but we speak about a vast inanimate metal monster – the Eiffel Tower. On March 31, she turned 120 years old, although the official celebration will begin only from May 15 – the day when the tower was opened for visits in 1889. Despite the age, the “Iron Lady” feels good and is preparing with all her might for the anniversary.
Biography
In 1887, when the construction of the tower began, nobody was thinking of any symbol of Paris. The designer Gustave Eiffel was instructed to create only an entrance arch for the World Exhibition in 1889. Not a simple one, of course, but amazing, startling, since this exhibition was arranged in honour of the 100 anniversary of the French Revolution and became a peculiar show of science and technology from various countries.
At the contest the idea of Eiffel bypassed hundreds of applicants, among which there were very unusual and extravagant options: a giant stone tower, a huge guillotine. Many of them were rejected because of the high cost and complexity of construction. Eiffel suggested new methods of construction and promised that in just two years, everything would be ready for the show.
The iron monster weighing more than 10 thousand tons, rapidly rising above Paris, was not to everyone’s liking. Already in the very year of the beginning of the construction 300 best-known writers and artists sent a letter of protest to the fathers of the city, declaring that the tower disfigures the city like an ugly giant stalk.
Nevertheless, the 300-metre metal monster did appear on the outskirts of the Martian field: for 26 months, 300 workers from more than 12 thousand parts, using 2.5 million rivets built the new symbol of France. Already on March 31, 1889, Eiffel held the first “tour” of his brainchild. The officials were satisfied, although they had to climb up on foot.
In the year of its birth, the Eiffel Tower was the highest construction of the world, surpassing even the Egyptian pyramids and the Cologne Cathedral. But then the American skyscrapers, and TV towers left this symbol of France far behind. But the tower itself in the years of its existence has grown up a bit – thanks to the antennas set on its top, now its height is 324 meters.
Work
There is nothing more permanent than something temporary: everybody has forgotten the exhibition, but the entrance arch is preserved until now. 20 years after the exhibition the tower was to be dismantled, but it turned out that the Eiffel creation could bring good income: the expenses of the construction were already paid off in the first year. Despite the benefit, the issue of demolition stood all the same. The tower was saved thanks to the radio – a better place for the installation of the transmitters could not be thought of. And till today the main equipment of French television and radio stations, and more recently even of the cellular companies, is located on the tower.
From 1825 to 1934 the symbol of France tried to make a career in advertising: during this time the surname Citroën would flash out at the Eiffel tower.
Now the tower hosts several restaurants and cafes, souvenir shops and kiosks. But the most unusual construction was, perhaps, the ice skating rink. For the first time this idea was embodied in the winter of 1969. Then, the first “figure skaters” were the trained bears from the Moscow Circus. For the second time the ice skating rink, made in the lower court in the winter of 2004, was designed to let dust into the eyes of thelympic Committee – Paris struggled for the right to host the Olympics of 2012.
Attires
For the first time, the Parisians and visitors of the exhibition saw it red. Then it would turn yellow, and finally brown. The regular change of “attires” helps the “old lady” resist corrosion that can ruin the iron details. By the tradition, originated by Eiffel, the tower changes the “attire” every seven years: 60 tons of paint is provided for this purpose and the painting starts. This year it will happen for the 19th time.
From time to time the whopper alters the accessories as well: the old-fashioned gas lamps of 1889 at the dawn of the twentieth century were replaced by electric lamps. In 1985, appeared the habitual soft golden light, which fit so well in the lighting decoration of the city. The most impressive illumination – sparkling silver flashing lights – was created for the celebration of the new millennium. In 2008, in honour of the French presidency in the EU, the tower began to resemble the flag of Europe: it was illuminated with blue lights and decorated with huge gold stars.
Guests
Since the existence of the “Iron Lady”, about 200 million people have wished to climb up to the sky, to admire the surroundings of the French capital from a height of more than 200 meters (and on a clear day, the visibility from the top of the tower reaches to 140 kilometres), to buy souvenirs or send an e-mail from the second level Internet cafes. Each year, cashiers sell 2 tons of tickets, mostly to the tourists from Western Europe, and the proportion of Russians among the visitors is just 2%.
Most of the guests climb up on the elevators, but there are those who can overcome the way to the top on their two: they will not be able to climb to the top, but to conquer the two levels is possible, and the cost will be almost twice as cheap (4 euros). However, those who have determined to take on this sports enterprise, should remember: while the remaining visitors can visit the “Iron Lady” from 9.30 am to 11.45 pm(from September 1 until June 12) and from 9.00 am to 00.45 am(from, from 13 June to 31 August), the “pedestrians” will have to finish their visit six hours earlier.
Scandals
The inanimate metal whacker has changed many lives. Hundreds of people have decided to get even with their lives, by throwing themselves out from different floors. The first suicide occurred in 1891: on the northern cradle a typographical engineer hanged himself. In 1912, an Austrian tailor died, having jumped from the first level with an improvised parachute.
Twice the Eiffel Tower was on the verge of being sold. This was done by the talented trickster Victor Lyustig – a unique personality, who had 45 aliases and perfectly fluent in five languages. In 1925, he presented himself as the deputy head of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, persuaded one of the dealers that the tower will soon be pulled down, and invited him to purchase the scrap metal. Surprisingly, the wheeler-dealer did this stunt twice: the first time the done businessman, not wishing to look like an idiot in the eyes of partners, did not tell them anything.
The tower attracts lovers: Tom Cruise made a proposal to Katie Holmes here; Rod Stewart made a declaration of love to his darling.
And a 37-year-old American lady quite married the Eiffel Tower: she had fallen in love with inanimate objects before, until, finally, she found her ideal – a huge phallic symbol towering over Paris.
Imitators
During 120 years Eiffel’s creation has been cloned repeatedly: there are such towers available in many countries around the world. The most accurate copy of a height of 333 meters was built in 1958 in Tokyo. You can find the diminished silhouettes of the “Iron Lady” at the Copenhagen Zoo, and in Brussels Mini-Europark, among other tiny copies of European sites. A few towers are built in different states of the USA: The biggest of them is a 165-meter giant in Las Vegas. In Russia there is a personal Paris – this is how one of the villages in the Chelyabinsk region is called. It also has its own Eiffel Tower – reduced 5 times, it serves for cellular communication. Another small imitation was built in Kazakhstan, in Alma-Ata: the local tower is 10 times smaller than its prototype. And, of course, it is almost impossible to count all the towers decorating various cafes, restaurants, bars and shops around the world.
