Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower, an immense structure of exposed latticework supports made of iron, was erected for the Paris Exposition of 1889. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of England) officiated at the ceremonial opening. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, one was unanimously chosen, a radical creation from the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (b. Dec. 15, 1832, d. Dec. 28, 1923), who was assisted in the design by engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, and architect Stephen Sauvestre.
However, the controversial tower elicited some strong reactions, and a petition of 300 names — including those of Maupassant, Emile Zola, Charles Garnier (architect of the OpĂ©ra Garnier), and Dumas the Younger — was presented to the city government, protesting its construction. The petition read, "We, the writers, painters, sculptors, architects and lovers of the beauty of Paris, do protest with all our vigour and all our indignation, in the name of French taste and endangered French art and history, against the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower."
Planning a visit to Paris and want to know when the Eiffel Tower was built? The Eiffel tower in Paris was inaugurated on 31 March 1889. It was the keystone of the Universal Exposition celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. Who built the Eiffel Tower? It was built by Gustave Eiffel. With 2 million visitors the first year and almost 6 million people a year today, the Eiffel Tower is a real crowd pleaser. At the crossroads of the entire world, 180 million visitors have come since its construction. It's not surprising when you consider the Eiffel Tower is the monument that best symbolizes Europe. It's also the one tourists prefer. See further down the address of the Eiffel tower. The area is also a popular place for tourists who wish to find a hotel or rent a holiday apartment in Paris.