On March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower was dedicated in Paris during a ceremony by the tower’s designer.
Gustave Eiffel attended the ceremony, along with French Prime Minister and other dignified people, as well as 200 construction workers.
The reason Eiffel built this structure was because the French government planned a design competition for a monument to be built in central Paris to honor the anniversary of the French Revolution.
Eiffel was a well-known metal structure builder and also designed the framework of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, according to history.com.
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While Eiffel faced much criticism for his design, many decades later, it was known as a wonder and an architectural masterpiece.
It is nearly 1,000 feet tall and is made of iron with stairs and elevators leading to different observation decks throughout.
Until 1930, the Eiffel Tower was the tallest man-made structure until the Chrysler Building was completed in New York City.
Now, nearly seven million people visit the tower each year, and since its opening in 1889, 250 million people around the world have come to visit the tower, according to livescience.com.
While it is mainly a tourist attraction, it does offer many other amenities.
These may be lesser known, but there are banquet halls, restaurants, a champagne bar and several gift shops located throughout.
It is open 365 days per year and every hour on the hour, there is a light show performed from the tower’s bulbs.
When walking around Champs-de-Mars, people can be seen drinking wine, sharing loaves of bread and talking selfies with the tower.
Despite the romantic atmosphere of the area, it is a popular tourist attraction, which means it is also home to much theft.
People often work together to pickpocket unsuspecting tourists by distracting them with different games and diversions.
However, there are signs in all places near the tourist attraction warning people of such crimes.
A common theme for the Eiffel Tower is when there is tragedy in the world, it will either go dark or have the colors displayed, standing in solidarity with the rest of the world.
Mary Curtin can be contacted at mcurtin@kscequinox.com
