Lomography

Eiffel Tower
written by janidays on June 21st, 2009 , 2 submissions , 10 comments (9 votes)

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The Eiffel Tower is a structure made of iron and is located on the Champ de Mars beside the Seine River in Paris, the capital of France. It’s a symbol of France and it’s a very important construction recognized in the whole world.
Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889, designed by Gustavo Eiffel, to celebrate de French Revolution. Eiffel was a great bridges constructor and designed the statue of liberty in New York. At the beginning, the tower was planned to be build in Barcelona but they thought it was an expensive construction and didn’t fit in the type of the city. So, after this, Eiffel sent the draft to Paris where the tower would be constructed in 1889.

The tower was supposed to be a temporary construction but the government decided that the it should stay forever in Paris. The Eiffel Tower was inaugurated on 31st March 1889 and opened on 6th May. During 40 years, the tower was the biggest construction in the world.

At first, there were a lot of people that criticized the tower because everyone thought that it was a huge construction, exaggerated and ugly. The shape of the tower was determined by mathematical calculation, involving wind resistance. Rigorous theories of this mathematical calculation have been proposed over the years. Nowadays, the structure is considered one of the most brilliants pieces of art in our world. When we think of Paris, we think of the beauty of the Eiffel Tower. Today, the tower is a symbol of France. The tower is equipped with a series of lifts to raise the visitors to the different floors, until the top. The originals were all hydraulic.

The elevators of the East and West pillars were replaced in 1899 and modernized in 1986. The lift of the South pillar was replaced in 1983 by one exclusive for guests of the restaurant. The lift of the northern pillar was replaced in 1965 by a tram and then modernized in 1995. In front of the four pillars of the Eiffel Tower, are inscribed the names of 72 scientists, who wanted to honor Gustavo Eiffel. Their names were erased early in the century when the tower was painted, but between 1986 and 1987 they were recovered and set there again.

The tower has two restaurants inside. They are called Altitude 95 and Jules Verne and are very expensive. One of them has a star in the Michelin Red Guide. Inside of the tower there are a lot of little stores that sell souvenirs of Paris and of the tower but very expensive, really. Around six million visitors a year make this the most visited monument in the world.