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The Eiffel Tower is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris.
It was named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global
cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world.
The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world.
The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second. The third
level observatory's upper platform is 276 m above the ground, the highest accessible
to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or elevator
to the first and second levels. The climb from ground level to the first level is over
300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. Although there are stairs
to the third and highest level, these are usually closed to the public and it is generally
only accessible by lift.
The tower is 324 metres tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building. During its
construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to assume the title of
the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years, until the Chrysler
Building in New York City was built in 1930. Because of the addition of the antenna atop
the Eiffel Tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres.
Not including broadcast antennae, it is the second-tallest structure in France, after the Millau Viaduct.