In 1889, when the Tour Eiffel was completed. It was the tallest building in the world at 300m (984 ft). Since then, it has become an enduring symbol of the city of Paris.

This steel construction defied all traditional rules in architecture. The lower section consists of four immense arched legs set on masonry piers. The legs curve inward until they unite in a single tapered tower. Platforms, each with an observation deck, are at three levels; on the first is also a restaurant. The tower, constructed of about 6300 metric tons (about 7000 tons) of iron, has stairs and elevators.

A meteorological station, a radio communications station, and a television transmission antenna, as well as a suite of rooms that were used by Eiffel, are located near the top of the tower. 

The Eiffel Tower generated the admiration of some and the disgust of others.  The famous French writer Guy de Maupassant left Paris permanently to avoid looking at its 'metallic carcass' but others who espoused more self-consciously modern views championed the tower: Seurat and Douanier Rousseau were among the first to paint it, in 1889 and 1890 respectively. On a clear day, it is possible to see Chartres Cathedral from the high level viewing platform.

Tower Fact

There are three floors. The first is at 57 m., the second at 115m., and the third at 276 m. The top of the aerial is 320 m. above the ground. And on a nice day, you an see from the top of the platform, the whole of Paris and even the distant suburbs.

The 12,000 steel girders are held together by 2,500,000 rivets to produce a smooth, curving profile. Its functional elegance heralded the dawn of Industrial Art, and has met with much sarcastic comment from more conservative observers ever since it was finished in 1889.

And in 1986 the external night-time floodlighting was replaced by a system of illumination from within the tower's superstructure, so that it now looks at its magical best after dark.