The world’s most famous monument, the Eiffel Tower was built for the Universal Exhibition in 1889 to celebrate the first centenary of French Revolution.
312 meters high by the end of its construction (324 meters today), it is made of 18 000 metallic pieces (weigh 7 000 tons) and 2 500 000 rivets.
At the end of its early 20 years’ existence, the tower should’ve been abolished; however, it was finally conserved as laboratory for science studies. Today, it is the most visited monument of Paris with more than 6 million visitors each year.
Being the symbol of Paris and France, its lighting system was modified in 2000 with “flash” lights added that sparkle 10 minutes every hour at night.
In 2004, during the Chinese Year activity in France, its lights were made in red during the week of Chinese New year to embrace the arrival of Chinese first minister.
It was illuminated in blue on May 9, 2006 for Europe Day and June 30, 2008 (for a duration of 2 months) for the French presidency of the European Union.
|
