Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris and likely the most identifiable territorial marker of the city. Of the 700 proposals submitted in a design competition, one was unanimously chosen, a radical creation from the French structural engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel for the World Exhibition of 1889. Initially the artists and writers of Paris expressed their strong disapproval in regards to the tower but later generations commended it. Everyone wants to visit this landmark so expect the lines to be long.

Built to celebrate the science and engineering achievements of its age, soaring 300m / 984 ft. (320.75m / 1,052 ft. including antenna) and weighing 7000 tons, the structure consists of two visibly distinct parts: a base composed of a platform resting on four separate supports and, above this, a slender tower created as the bents taper upward, rising above a second platform to merge in a unified column.

This unexampled work had been the tallest structure in the world until the Empire State Building was built about 40 years later.

Eiffel was the leading European authority on the aerodynamics of high frames. In the construction of the Eiffel Tower, the curve of the base pylons was accurately calculated so that the bending and shearing forces of the wind were incrementally transformed into forces of compression, which the bents could withstand more effectively.

The Eiffel Tower at night is one of the great sights of Paris and shouldn't be missed. The gold lighting highlights the delicacy of the steelwork in a way that is missed in daylight. However difficult its birth may have been, the Tour Eiffel is now completely accepted by French citizens, and is internationally acknowledged as one of the symbols of Paris itself.