Eiffel Tower Symbol

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Lore & Background

The design is attributed to Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, two senior engineers working for the Compagnie des Établissements Eiffel. Stephen Sauvestre added decorative arches and a glass pavilion. Eiffel bought the rights to the patent and presented plans to the Société des Ingénieurs Civils on 30 March 1885, saying the tower would symbolise 'not only the art of the modern engineer, but also the century of Industry and Science in which we are living, and for which the way was prepared by the great scientific movement of the eighteenth century and by the Revolution of 1789, to which this monument will be built as an expression of France's gratitude.'

In Their Own Story

The proposed tower drew criticism from those who did not believe it feasible and those who objected on artistic grounds. A petition called "Artists against the Eiffel Tower" was sent to the Minister of Works and published by Le Temps on 14 February 1887. It read: "We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection ... of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower." Gustave Eiffel responded by comparing his tower to the Egyptian pyramids: "My tower will be the tallest edifice ever erected by man. Will it not also be grandiose in its way? And why would something admirable in Egypt become hideous and ridiculous in Paris?" Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant every day because it was the one place in Paris where the tower was not visible.

Reader's Guide

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m above the ground. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first to the second, making the entire ascent a 600-step climb. The top level is usually accessible only by lift.

Did You Know?

• The tower is 330 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building.
• It was the first structure in the world to surpass both the 200-metre and 300-metre mark in height.
• The tower received 5,889,000 visitors in 2022.
• It was designated a monument historique in 1964 and named part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991.