The Parisian Eiffel Tower celebrates 120 years of existence

Paris - The Eiffel Tower in Paris is celebrating its 120th anniversary. Construction of the building began in 1887 in the French capital, without which it is difficult to imagine the skyline of the city above the Seine. However, the monument did not have an easy start - barely three weeks after the first spade was struck, a passionate debate erupted, in which opponents of the tower declared that the structure would "dishonor" the capital of France.
Just two years later, shortly after this new Parisian landmark was opened to the public, it became clear that the supporters of the tower were right, and since then the Eiffel Tower has essentially enjoyed extraordinary popularity. On the other hand, this popularity could not secure the monument, so sought after by tourists from all over the world, a place among the seven new wonders of the world, which were voted on this year.
The assembly of the metal structure based on four massive foundation blocks began on July 1, 1887. The progress of the work was overseen by the author of the work, engineer Gustave Eiffel, a proven bridge builder. His task was to complete the structure within two years, so that it could become one of the symbols of French participation at the 1889 World Exposition in Paris.
The construction was accompanied by an exceptionally excited atmosphere, with some prominent figures from the French public life of that time opposing the project. For example, the entire Academy of Fine Arts and also writer Guy de Maupassant or composer Charles Gounod. They expressed their "indignation" against the "useless and monstrous tower" in the newspaper Le Temps, where they described Eiffel as "some kind of machine builder", who wants to "irreparably deform and dishonor" Paris.
Eiffel responded to these attacks with dry arguments. For example, he stated that the arches at the lowest part of the tower would impart "a sense of strength and beauty" to the structure and that the views between the individual structural elements would ensure that it appeared incredibly light.
The academy was not convinced by the builder, but the public appreciated him with admiration when in March 1889 the tower finally welcomed its first visitors.
Just in the year of the World Exposition, nearly two million people visited the tower. In the end, even one of its most stubborn critics, Charles Gounod, could not resist the charm of the tower, whom Eiffel invited to dinner in the restaurant there. They were accompanied by American inventor Thomas Alva Edison, who also presented the host with a copy of his invented phonograph.
The challenge of Eiffel's technical work was recognized by most of the public even at that time, and it still deserves admiration today. It was truly a gigantic work - even before the construction began, fifty engineers and draftsmen had to prepare 5,300 construction drawings, based on which more than a hundred qualified workers prepared about 18,000 prefabricated parts in workshops.
For example, just raising the lower parts of the tower to a height of 57 meters took six months of hard work. The French flag waved, thanks to the efforts of 250 workers, at the top of the structure at 312 meters on March 31, 1889, at 1:30 PM. However, before that happened, the workers had to position a total of 7,300 tons of metal beams, for which they used two and a half million rivets and another 18,038 metal components.
The title of the tallest building in the world was held by the tower until 1929, when the Chrysler Building skyscraper was built in New York.