Building Of The Eiffel Tower In Stunning & Must-See Historical Photographs

The Eiffel Tower (French: La Tour Eiffel, nickname La dame de fer, the iron lady) is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest building in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world. Named for its designer, engineer Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built as the entrance arch to the 1889 World’s Fair. The tower stands 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building.

French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923), designer of many notable bridges and viaducts and most famously, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, 1880:

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Stages of construction Eiffel Tower: 1887–1889:

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

Henry Guttmann/Getty Images

The elevator at the first level of the Eiffel Tower, during its construction. The elevator is still used for conveying sightseers:

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French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (1832–1923), left, poses high on the steps of the completed Eiffel Tower, which he designed for the 1889 Paris Exposition:

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The Eiffel Tower built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the Exposition Universelle or World Fair of 1889 in Paris:

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Eiffel Tower designed by Gustave Eiffel and erected in 1887–1889) in the Champs-de-Mars for the Paris exhibition of 1889. It was the tallest building in the world until 1930:

Fox Photos/Getty Images

Electrical workers balance high up on the Eiffel tower in paris to change the lights that illuminate the tower at night, 1937:

Horace Abrahams/Fox Photos/Getty Images

High above the River Seine two electricians work on the lights on the Eiffel Tower which will illuminate the Paris Exhibition at night, 1937:

Horace Abrahams/Getty Images