Anniversary of the Paris symbol that inspires the most desired feelings
Without fear of being wrong, I can say that the Eiffel Tower in Paris is the reason for the dreams of millions of people who long to see it one day and for the happiness of those who have stopped in front of it to be seduced by its majesty and imposingness or have been able to ascend through its internal spaces to recognize it from the bowels.
María Consuelo Caicedo Toro
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In 2023, this symbol of Paris and France to the world tourism reaches 134 years of existence, an existence full of life. Nobody can say that it is just a monument of cold metal, its structures have a life of their own because it brings unforgettable emotions to those who have the opportunity to enjoy it. Seven million people from all over the planet visit it annually, most foreigners.
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Let's make history
The centenary of the French Revolution that took place in 1889 was the reason for a universal exhibition that involved a competition for projects to create a large iron tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Among more than 100 bidders, the winner was the businessman Gustave Eiffel together with the engineers Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin and the architect Stephen Sauvestre. Gustave, in 1884, patented the design proposed by him and his group of specialists, which consisted of a tower of posts and metal supports that would reach a height of 300 meters.
Beginning in July 1887, the tower began to shape its personality, projected in a beautiful and imposing way that included in its construction more than 18,000 pieces that fitted to the millimeter, supported on a large piece of land where, for 21 months, Between 150 and 300 workers led by specialists moved tirelessly. Below ground level, the legs are attached to concrete foundations whose stability depends on a large base of compacted gravel. An entire work of metallic engineering admired for its precision in its assembly, which happily ended on March 31, 1889.
Not everyone liked it
Some men whose names were at the height of French art and letters protested against the monument and others less exalted wrote pamphlets which, distributed left and right in the streets of Paris, described the tower from pale papers as an enormous streetlamp, an iron mast with hard, unfinished, confused and deformed rigging; a giant skeleton lacking in grace or the abortion of a ridiculously thin profile of a factory chimney.
All these voices fell silent when 2 million people attended the inauguration of the great Eiffel Tower, already finished, which stood haughtily and proudly on the day of its official exhibition, exhibiting 300 meters high, which after some adjustments went to 330 to provide the Parisians and the world a unique view of the French capital.
Saved by the radio!
Since its inception, it was known that the Eiffel Tower would only live for 20 years when, after the concession given to Gustave Eiffel, the monument would pass into the hands of the city council.
The rise of radio at the end of the 19th century saved the life of the emblematic tower because from its structure it was possible to generate a connection of Hertzian waves in Morse code that reached 4 kilometers in distance and since 1899 a station was installed for permanent broadcasts that They came to the city of London.
The Eiffel Tower went from mere tourist interest to being valued for its strategic military and commercial power. It was so much so that the Radio Tour Eiffel station regularly broadcast its radio content from December 1921. Ten years later, a television image transmitter was installed in the tower.
Protagonist forever and ever
The Eiffel Tower has never lost prominence, millions of tourists and natives visit it, walk through it, admire it, and make it eternal in their photos and it is the object of permanent celebrations. It illuminates the city of Paris with the magic of its light and has been written about in books, newspapers, and magazines.
The film Eiffel rescues its story by sticking to real events but also betting on fiction: its protagonist is the businessman who conceived it and saw it born and in this story made into a film, Gustave Eiffel (played by Romain Duris) will be touched by the love of a woman he once knew and who, in a new encounter, inspires him to give Paris a great gift that would distinguish her forever.
Dear reader, what feelings does the Eiffel Tower inspire in you? Let us know in the comments.
