It’s one of Paris’ most famous landmarks and has received over 250 million visitors since it opened to the public in 1889. Designed by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the tower was built to be the entrance to the World’s Fair, an exposition of world culture.
The tower was met with much scorn by Parisians of the era, who couldn’t see how such a monstrosity could fit into their picturesque city. A sizable group of artists created a petition against the construction of the tower. Their petition began:
‘We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection … of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower’.
It has been the inspiration for the creation of over 30 duplicates and similar towers around the world. Most are not exact replicas, though there are many like it.
Paris, Texas Eiffel Tower
There are fifteen American municipalities named “Paris,” and more than a few have chosen to erect Eiffel Tower replicas to pay homage to their French namesake. Texas’s Eiffel Tower was built in 1993 by a local iron worker’s union and was 65 feet tall. This replica has found itself in a constant height battle with a replica in Paris, Tennessee, which was also completed in 1993.
At first, Texas’ tower was designed to be five feet taller than Tennessee’s, but then the Tennessee tower took the lead. To finish the battle once and for all Paris, Texas added a cowboy hat to their tower, and won the height battle, clocking in at 65 feet.
Slobozia, Romanian Eiffel Tower
Through a series of bribes and other “indelicate means,” someone was able to get enough money to build a theme park in this small, remote Romanian town that not only has a huge Eiffel Tower replica, but also recreated many of the buildings from the 1970s American TV show, “Dallas.” Located outside Slobozia, about 75 miles from Bucharest, the replica stands at about 177 feet tall (the actual Eiffel Tower stands at over 1,000 feet). That man is now in jail.
Tokyo Tower
The Japanese version of the Eiffel Tower has become something of an urban landmark in its own right. The Tokyo Tower measures an impressive 333 meters tall and was built in 1958. Tokyo Tower is a communications and observation tower located in the Shiba-Koen district of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. At 332.9 meters (1,092 ft), it is the second-tallest structure in Japan. The structure is an Eiffel Tower-inspired lattice tower that is painted white and international orange to comply with air safety regulations.
AWA Tower
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The AWA Tower in Sydney is an office complex that was built in 1939. To get around the maximum height restrictions for buildings in Sydney and taking inspiration from the Eiffel Tower, the owners chose to erect a massive transmitter on top.
The AWA Tower consists of a radio transmission tower atop a 15-story building. It was designed by architects Morrow and Gordon from 1937–1939 and became one of the most notable commercial buildings of Sydney. It brought geometric Art Deco design and modernism to the city skyline and it was Sydney’s tallest structure for many years before several skyscrapers overtook it!
Funkturm Berlin
The Berliner Funkturm or Funkturm Berlin (Berlin Radio Tower) is a former broadcasting tower in Berlin. Constructed between 1924 and 1926 to designs by the architect Heinrich Straumer, it was inaugurated on 3 September 1926.
The tower is built as one large steel framework construction, similar to the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The 150m high and approximately 600 metric ton radio tower was originally planned strictly as a transmitting tower, but later additions included a restaurant at a height of approximately 52 meters and observation deck at a height of approximately 125 meters.
Las Vegas Eiffel Tower
In true Vegas style, this Eiffel Tower knock-off is by far the most impressive and realistic tribute to the real deal. It is the largest true replica of the Eiffel Tower (there are bigger towers that simply have a resemblance such as the Tokyo Tower). This replica is fairly popular and widely known in the United States as it is part of the Paris Las Vegas Casino on the Vegas Strip.
This replica also has its own Twitter account. Its construction was completed in May 1997 at an estimated cost of $760 million. Original plans for the Eiffel Tower called for a full-scale replica, however, would have interfered with nearby McCarran Airport and designers reduced it to approximately 1:2 scale.
Torre del Reformador
The Torre del Reformador (Tower of the Reformer) is a 71.85 meter (236 ft.) tall steel framework tower in Guatemala City. The tower was built in 1935, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Justo Rufino Barrios , who was President of Guatemala and instituted a number of reforms.
The basic shape of the structure resembles the Eiffel Tower. It was originally constructed with a bell on its top, which in 1986 was replaced with a beacon. If one day we would have imagined the skeleton of the Eiffel Tower, it might look like this.
Parizh Eiffel Tower
Parizh is a village in Nagaybaksky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the south border of the district. Population: 2,390 (1997 est.). It was established as a Nagaybak Cossack settlement in 1842 and soon after was given its name to honor the Battle of Paris. This Eiffel Tower is actually a cell phone tower and it stands about 164 feet high. It was erected in 2005.
The Eiffel Tower Gomes Palacio in Durango Mexico
The Gomez Palacio Eiffel Tower is a 21 percent size of the original Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. This replica was donated by the French community in Durango in 2007. Apparently, vandalism of the tower is a big problem and the legs have received much damage, however, they still light the tower up at night and there’s a giant rope swing attached to the bottom. Up to 16 people are allowed at the observation deck at the same time.
Tianducheng
Tianducheng is a town in the suburbs of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in China. Construction at Tianducheng began around 2007 continuing a trend in China to recreate great cities around the world throughout Mainland China. Its central feature is 108-metre-tall (354-foot) replica of the Eiffel Tower and 31 km2 of Parisiani style architecture but now it is mostly an abandoned ghost town.