Visiting the Eiffel Tower creates plenty of opportunities to reel off some facts to your children. Amaze your kids with these fun Eiffel Tower facts.
1. How tall is it?
The Eiffel Tower is 330 meters (1,083 feet) tall—including the antenna at the top. That’s taller than 80 giraffes stacked up!
2. When was it built?
It was finished in 1889 for the World’s Fair to celebrate 100 years since the French Revolution.
3. How many steps?
There are 1,665 steps to the top—but don’t worry, most people take the lift!
4. What color is it?
It’s painted “Eiffel Tower Brown”—and it gets a fresh coat every 7 years using 60 tonnes of paint.
5. It was almost torn down!
After 20 years, Paris planned to dismantle it—but it was saved because it was useful as a radio antenna.
6. Who built it?
It was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who also worked on the Statue of Liberty.
7. At night…
It sparkles every hour for 5 minutes after sunset. The twinkly lights use 20,000 bulbs!
8. It’s heavy!
It weighs about 10,000 tonnes—the same as 1,000 double-decker buses.
9. It moves!
The metal expands and contracts, so in hot weather, the tower can grow up to 15 cm (6 inches) taller!
10. It’s famous!
The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world—with nearly 7 million visitors a year.
As you can tell from the gratuitous use of em dash, this post was made with the assistance of artificial intelligence, though it has been given a cursory glance by me to check for hallucinations.