7 things you probably didn’t know about the Eiffel Tower

The last time I was in dreamy Paris, I took some time to admire and capture some stunning pictures the Eiffel tower by day and night. Something I have been meaning to do for a while. This tower has grown over the years to become an iconic landmark for France, but it wasn’t always so. Here are 7 things you probably didn’t know about the Eiffel Tower – We reckon!

1. It’s been around for a while – The tower is 126 years old and would be 127 on in March 2016.
2. World’s tallest building – Once upon a time, the Eiffel Tower was the world’s tallest building for 41 years, before the Chrysler Building in New York came along and stole its shine.

3. It lights up! – You have to wait for night then you get see the magic. The tower sparkles with lights every hour on the hour for five minutes and it’s stunning. Tourists wait around and on the hour everyone starts clicking away.
4. 20 years only – Can you believe that the tower was built as a temporary monument and was only supposed to last for 20 years. Gustave Eiffel had it built explicitly to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.

5. Imagine if…. The Eiffel tower was demolished! Well in 1944 Hitler ordered the German military governor of France to tear it down but THANKFULLY the order was never carried out. The tower also played a key part in aiding the French in the First World War.

6. Most visited paid tourist attraction in the world – The tower takes the prize for that, it welcomes around seven million visitors each year. The Empire State Building only draws about half of this each year.
7. Place du Trocadéro – You can get some of the best views of the tower from here and it is probably the best place to see the lights show too. Place du Trocadéro has a Metro station.

So which of these facts did you know?

“Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.”

― Anita Desai

Pictures were taken by me from Place du Trocadéro.