The Eiffel Tower is one of the most iconic landmarks in the world and needs no introduction.
According to reports, the tower will get a little bit of a facelift ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in its city, Paris. Over the next several years, crews will work to strip off years of paint and rust before applying a new layer of gold paint to make it shimmer and shine day and night.
The Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889. Today, it has become one of the most frequented historic landmarks in the world and attracts millions of tourists every year. Standing tall at 324 meters, the tower has been painted 19 times and it takes nearly 60 tons of paint to complete the work.
Since 1968, the tower was painted in a specially-designed shade of brown but it is now being prepared to be painted in a yellow-brown color. The new shade will give the stunning tower a golden hue. This grand makeover is expected to cost around $60 million. It could also prove to be a rather dangerous task for crews due to the hazards of stripping old paint that may contain lead.
Shades of the Eiffel Tower
You would be surprised to know that before this, the Eiffel Tower was painted in much brighter shades of orange, green and yellow. The landmark was painted all in red when it was first erected at the request of its famed designer, Gustave Eiffel, after whom the tower was named.
Three years later, its colour was changed to ochre, or light orange. The 1899 pictures of the tower show a very sunny picture of the landmark, which was there for 47 years from 1907 to 1954. Nearly four decades later, in 1968, the colour was changed to brown-red.
Eiffel Tower, being one of the prime attractions of Paris, will now serve as a backdrop for the triathlon and water swimming events in the 2024 Olympics. The surrounding area will also serve as the place for entertainment events during the games, making that golden makeover all the more important.
