Standing high above Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is among the most famous landmarks in the world. Known as the Tour Eiffel in French, the tower was designed and built by the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, who also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty in New York. When built in the 1880s, it was the highest man-made structure in the world. Today, it is still the tallest structure in Paris.

The monument

The three-level tower is 984 feet (300 meters) tall. A television antenna atop the structure gives it a total height of 1,056 feet (322 meters). The base of the tower consists of four semicircular arches. Glass-walled elevators and stairs lead up to the first and second platforms. Other elevators go from the second level to the third platform near the top. From this platform the view extends for 50 miles (80 kilometers) on a clear day. Along with the viewing areas, the tower has restaurants, a museum, and a souvenir shop.

History

The Eiffel Tower is the result of a contest held by the French government. At the time the government was organizing the International Exposition of 1889, a fair to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the start of the French Revolution. The contest to create a monument for the event drew much interest, and more than 100 plans were submitted. Eiffel's plan was chosen, but not without some controversy. His plan called for for a tower built almost entirely of a series of crossed metal strips. The structure was widely criticized in the planning stages because nothing like it had ever been built before. Yet the tower was built with a small labor force and at a slight cost. It took only about two years, between 1887 and 1889.

After the 1889 fair ended, the Eiffel Tower was almost torn down several times. But Eiffel oversaw changes to the structure that made it more useful. Among them were the additions of a weather station in 1890 and a military telegraph station in 1903. Changes also were made for fairs held in 1900, 1925, and 1937. In the early 1980s the Eiffel Tower was renovated for its 100-year anniversary in 1989. The tower is now a popular tourist stop.