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10,100 tons, 18,038 pieces of iron, 324 meters high, 4 pillars, 3 floors, 5 elevators … Just take a look at the figures on the Eiffel Tower to see how impressive the sculpture is. Erected for more than 130 years in Paris, a stone’s throw from the Seine, the Iron Lady has today become a true emblem of France and its capital.
An emblem that has inspired many artists and directors. From « Zazie in the metro » To « Midnight in Paris » Passing by « Ratatouille« , »Dangerously yours « or « An indian in the city« , the monument has appeared in dozens of films. The latest, Eiffel, directed by Martin Bourboulon was released in theaters on October 13th.
Between biopic and love story, the film follows the construction of the icon of the City of Light supervised by engineer Gustave Eiffel on the occasion of the Universal Exhibition of 1889. And this construction was not done without difficulty, no debate. The huge tour was indeed far from seducing everyone at its beginnings.
It was in 1886 that the construction of the Iron Lady was officially decided and the project of colossal dimensions already caused ink to flow in the newspapers of the time as evidenced by an article in the Figaro dated June 6 of that same year:
The construction of the Eiffel Tower is officially decided today. A decree issued by theOfficial ratified the vote of the Commission, and the inventor does not wait any more, to begin his foundations at the Champ de Mars, that the vote of the credit by the Senate.
To give an idea of the prodigious height of this monument, which will be an unrivaled industrial masterpiece, it suffices to note this detail that Notre Dame de Paris would hold at ease in the enormous closed arch, by the feet of the tower. The space occupied on the ground by these four feet is one hundred and twenty-five square meters, and, according to the competent men, the solidity of the tower will leave nothing to be desired.
Five months later, on November 6, 1886, it is a much less glowing story of which The Little Daily echoed, calling the idea « absurd« from a technical point of view, like a financial one:
We repeat, if Mr. Eiffel and his entrepreneurs want to build the Eiffel Tower, they do it at their own risk, far from Paris, in order to avoid the too great dangers that their crazy business can cause to everything. a neighborhood. Our finances will gain a few millions which we will be able to use usefully, and finally our Exhibition will retain the elegant and graceful character that the Eiffel Tower would make it lose.
Despite criticism, the project is proceeding. In January 1887, construction of the Iron Lady foundations began. And relaunching all the more protests, including popular figures of the time including Alexandre Dumas, Guy de Maupassant, Charles Gounod or Charles Garnier who do not hesitate to publish an open letter in the columns of the Time February 14, 1887:
Will the city of Paris therefore associate itself longer with the Baroque, the mercantile imaginations of a machine builder, to make itself irreparably ugly and dishonor itself? Because the Eiffel Tower, which commercial America itself would not want, is, no doubt, the dishonor of Paris.
A little over two years and 2.5 million rivets later, the Eiffel Tower is yet complete. At the end of March 1889, the iron sculpture rises to its full height on its four feet and is inaugurated with great pomp by Gustave Eiffel. An event hailed by The French Observer April 2nd :
The Eiffel Tower is finished! From the height of her grandeur, she taunts bad tongues, who claimed that she would not be completed. Mr. Eiffel had promised that his tower would be finished on March 31. The great engineer kept his word. Yesterday, Mr. Eiffel crowned the tower. On this occasion, a site party took place, a party attended by all the workers who worked under the orders of Mr. Eiffel and some invited characters.
Opponents of the project must face the facts. The « dishonorable« , the' »absurd« The Eiffel Tower has seen the light of day. A flag is hoisted at its top, a box of fireworks explodes, twenty shots are fired and the cheers of the crowd resound. The event is displayed in full page in the newspapers like this illustration published on April 21 by The Progress of the Somme.
Barely completed, the metallic contours of the work and its impressive height are already beginning to appear as an emblem in the heart of Paris. In the newspaper columns Justice on April 2, 1889, the journalist Gustave Geffroy does not marvel at his lines « not interesting« , nor on his silhouette »skinny and tapered« . Yet it is with »stupor » and « admiration« that he describes this »sort of Fujiyama of the Parisian landscape« , daring to draw a parallel with the famous Japanese mountain.
A little for its long and slender shape, and much for its perpetual appearances at all the climbs of the streets and at all the detours of the boulevards, the Eiffel Tower plays, in Paris, the same role as the famous mountain in Japan. From everywhere, we can see the construction of openwork iron. It arises perpetually, it is at the end of each descent of the suburb, it changes place at each bend in the road, it does not disappear for an instant from the eyes of the strolling along the banks of the Seine. It is framed in a number of windows in all the districts of the north, south, east, west, and center of the city. She seems to want to go into the homestay.
The Universal Exhibition opened its doors a few months later in May 1889 and the Eiffel Tower was its flagship attraction. Until the event closes in November, no less than two million curious people venture there, turning the construction into a real popular success.
But the success does not last. When the event is over, curiosity falls. It was not until the Universal Exhibition of 1900 that the Iron Lady again attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors. Destined to last only twenty years, the tower ultimately survived thanks to the scientific experiments that were carried out there.
In the twentieth century, it underwent several renovation, restoration and development operations to become the monument that we know today. With some seven million visitors per year, it is one of the most visited in the world and is regularly the scene of various events.
>> Find in this section all the articles in partnership with RetroNews, the BNF press site.
Read also :
Four feet, ten tons, 1001 films: the Eiffel Tower, movie superstar
The Eiffel Tower offers a makeover to regain its “gold” color
Eiffel Tower: 7 little-known anecdotes about the Iron Lady
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