The Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is one of Paris landmarks that earn Paris its status of among the best tourist destination.

Eiffel Tower is an iron tower built on the Champ de Mars beside Seine River in Paris. It is the tallest structure in Paris and one of the most acclaimed symbols in the world. Eiffel Tower is named after its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, and it is a leading tourist destination.

The tower stands 986 ft. high, which is about 75 stories. Including the antenna, Eiffel tower height is 1058 ft that is about 81 stories. During its construction in 1889, the tower was the tallest structure in the world, a title it registered until 1930, when New York City’s Chrysler Building was completed. It is also popular among architects for being one of the few tall structures in the world that is perfectly vertical.

The maintenance of the tower includes applying 50 tones of three graded tones of paint every seven years for protection from rusting. Occasionally, the color of the paint is changed. Currently, the tower is painted s shade of brown. On the first floor, there are corresponding consoles hosting a poll for the color to use for a future session of painting.

The structure was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch for the Exposition Universelle, a World’s Fair indicating the centennial celebration of the French Revolution. The tower was inaugurated on the 31st of March 1889 and opened on the 6th of May.

Originally, the Eiffel tower had permit for the tower to stand for 20 years, more than recouping his expenses, but as it later proved valuable for communication purposes, it was allowed to stay after the expiration of the permit. The military used it to dispatch Parisian taxis to the front line of the Marne, and it consequently became a victory image of that battle. It was also used to catch the infamous “Mata Hari”, and after this, its demolition became unthinkable to the French populace.

The tower has two restaurants: Altitude 95, on the first floor, and the Jules Verne, a high-priced gourmet restaurant on the second floor, with a private elevator.

Today it is widely considered as one of the most striking pieces of structural art in the world.

Paris Landmarks and Monuments

Paris landmarks and monuments are very famous throughout the world and have made Paris one of the favorite tourists’ destinations in the world.

France’s most important city Paris, the City of Light, is packed with spectacular landmarks and monuments. Famous all over the world, many of these landmarks date back hundreds of years and are in surprisingly good condition.

The streets of Paris are divided into two parts by the Seine River and are connected by 31 bridges. The major street plan is the result of a 19th century plan developed by Baron Georges Hausmann. He positioned the main streets and boulevards so that they are long and straight focusing on the traffic circles, intersections, and architectural landmarks all the way through the city.

The monuments of Paris are magnificent and elegant and that is why many tourists love to come and visit this amazing city. Visitors associate such architectural wonders as the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, and Notre Dame Cathedral with Paris but the City of Light offers a lot of other spectacular, provocative, and frequently controversial Paris landmarks to take visit. Regular visitors to Paris will tell you that it’s useless to explore the famous Paris landmarks all in one visit. That’s why they keep coming back.

Many of the monuments which now provide Paris with its unique international identity were met with contempt and disregard by native Parisians at the time of their construction. For example, the Eiffel Tower, which was built to serve as a centerpiece of the Parisian literati, gained protests from the writers, artists, sculptors, architects, and lovers of the beauty of Paris. Modern-day citizens felt mixed sentiments about the Pompidou Center, commissioned in 1968, which is sometimes known as the most infamous post-modernist outhouse in Europe. The architect’s notorious wrong- way-round design seats the framework of the structure on the outside of the building.

Whatever the judgment may be on the worth of avant garde design, it is surely agreed that the remarkable choice of architectural period styles in Paris reflect a captivating history which can be traced far back in time. Some may prefer the grandeur of the High Gothic architecture found in the Notre Dame Cathedral, or the brilliant fixtures and décor at the palace of Versailles, while others may go for for the simplicity and clean lines of the Grande Arche dela Defénsa.

Parisian landmarks are so numerous that a short visit is absolutely not enough to explore all these beautiful monuments. Have your tour carefully planned so as not to miss any of these extraordinary spots. These are just some of the few of the many famous Paris landmarks.

If you are planning to visit Paris, you can eventually explore every single museum and monument and see for yourself how majestic they are. You will definitely have good memories to take back home with you. Most importantly, do not forget to bring your camera because you will want to take as many photos as you can.