10 interesting things about the Eiffel Tower celebrating 125 years old

Inaugurated on March 31, 1889, the Eiffel Tower lit 125 birthday candles at the end of March 2014. On this occasion, the magazine Grazia (France) introduces ten interesting things about the tower that is considered the symbol of Paris :

1. Although it was built to serve the universal exhibition opening on May 6, 1889, the Eiffel Tower was only open to visitors from May 15, 1889. Earlier (March 31, 1889), the British Royal Family and Buffalo Bill (1846-1917) - the bounty hunter and director of a famous troupe of the United States - were the first guests to set foot on the Eiffel Tower.

2. The paint color of the Eiffel Tower changes over time. First, the tower is painted red. After that, it turns out to be yellow, blue and chestnut-colored in copper today.

3. Le Jules Verne restaurant is located on the second floor of the tower, at a height of 125m. The chef of the restaurant is Alain Ducasse - who is ranked by Forbes magazine (USA) as 94 of the 100 most influential figures in the world. On average, Le Jules Verne receives 2 wedding receptions every day. To eat lunch here, customers must make a reservation 1 month in advance. If you want to have dinner, the waiting time is 3 months.

The Eiffel Tower was lit with green lights in 2008 when France was president of the European Union

4. Restaurant Le Jules Verne strictly forbids candles on the dining table.

5 . Including antenna, 324m high Eiffel tower and is the highest building in France today.

6. Each night, there are about 20,000 lights and 336 projectors illuminating the Eiffel Tower.

7. The Eiffel Tower retains the elevators of the 1889 period. From November 2011, only two of the three elevators for visitors are still active. This reduces the number of visitors to the tower. The modernization of the Eiffel Tower elevators is scheduled for 2 years but lasts up to 6 years. The hydraulic system alone cost 36 million euros.

8. The versions of the Eiffel Tower were built in many parts of the world with very different heights: Las Vegas (165m - America), Hangzhou (108m), Shenzhen (100m - China), Gómez Palacio ( 68.5m - Mexico), Slobozia (54m - Roumania), Parij (50m - Russia), Krakow (8.5m - Poland).

9. Every 7 years, the entire Eiffel Tower is repainted and consumes only . 60 tons of paint.

10. A year after the inauguration, the Eiffel Tower had 2 million visitors. By 2011, this number became 7.1 million and helped the Eiffel Tower take second place among the most visited cultural works in France (after the Notre Dame Cathedral with 13.6 million people) each year).

However, the Eiffel Tower is still at the top of the number of visitors among cultural buildings that sell tickets. In 2013, ticket sales of 'lady' amounted to 60 million euros. Among tourists, the French only accounted for 13%. The rest are foreigners but the highest rates are Americans, British and Italian.