Most Parisians do like the Eiffel Tower, even if they rarely go up it. For many locals it is a familiar, much-loved part of the skyline and a source of pride, especially when it sparkles at night. At the same time, plenty of Parisians shrug at it: they avoid the crowded area around it, roll their eyes at the souvenir trinkets, and think of it more as a tourist magnet than part of their daily lives.

It wasn’t always this way. When it was built, many of the city’s leading artists and writers hated it. Here is how Parisians’ feelings toward their most famous landmark have changed.

Parisians Hated It at First

The tower was built by Gustave Eiffel’s company for the 1889 World’s Fair, which marked the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. It was designed to show off French engineering, and it was only supposed to stand for 20 years.

Even before construction was finished, it caused an uproar. In 1887 a group of prominent artists and intellectuals, including writer Guy de Maupassant, composer Charles Gounod and Charles Garnier, architect of the Paris Opera, signed a protest letter in the newspaper Le Temps. They called the tower useless and monstrous and argued that it would humiliate the city’s great monuments, such as Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe.

At a time when fine buildings were made of carved stone, a bare iron structure with exposed rivets seemed shocking. Critics compared it to a skeleton or a factory chimney, and some worried it would ruin the view along the Champ de Mars from the École Militaire to the Trocadéro.

A well-known legend says that Maupassant often ate lunch at the tower’s restaurant because it was the only place in Paris where he couldn’t see it. Whether or not the story is true, it neatly sums up the mood of the time.

How the Tower Won Paris Over

Eiffel worked hard to give his tower a future. He kept a small private apartment near the top, hosted scientific experiments there, and promoted its use as a giant radio antenna. Military radio proved so valuable that the city extended its concession in 1910, saving it from demolition. During World War I its radio station intercepted enemy messages, and later it carried radio and television transmitters.

Over the decades, painters, photographers and filmmakers turned the tower into the ultimate symbol of Paris. It survived World War II: in August 1944 Hitler ordered that Paris be destroyed rather than surrendered, but the German commander did not carry out the order. A popular story also says that the French cut the elevator cables in 1940, so German soldiers had to climb the stairs to hang their flag at the top. You can read more of its history in our Eiffel Tower facts.

What Parisians Think of the Eiffel Tower Today

Why Many Parisians Love It

• It’s part of home. Catching a glimpse of it from a bridge, a balcony or the end of a street is one of those small daily pleasures of living in Paris.
• It sparkles. Even locals who claim not to care admit that the hourly sparkle at night can still give them a thrill.
• It brings people together. On Bastille Day (July 14), crowds gather on the Champ de Mars and around the Trocadéro for the fireworks around the tower, and big sporting victories and events are often celebrated with special lighting.
• It’s a Belle Époque masterpiece. Many Parisians are proud of it as a bold piece of engineering that still looks elegant more than 130 years later.
• It fits the city. Lined up between the École Militaire, the Champ de Mars, the Seine and the Trocadéro, it anchors one of the most harmonious vistas in Paris.

Why Some Parisians Are Less Enthusiastic

• Too many tourists. The area around the tower is crowded, full of street vendors and known for pickpockets, so many locals avoid it.
• Souvenir overload. Seeing the tower on every key ring, T-shirt and shop window can make it feel like a cliché.
• A postcard Paris. Some feel it promotes a romanticized image of the city that hides everyday realities such as high living costs and crowded transport.
• They’ve never been up. Like locals in many cities, plenty of Parisians have never bothered visiting their most famous landmark, or went once as a child.

The Eiffel Tower vs. the Montparnasse Tower

If you want to see what Parisians really dislike, look at the Tour Montparnasse. The 210-meter office skyscraper, completed in 1973, was so unpopular that it helped push the city to adopt strict height limits for central Paris. A long-running joke says the best view in Paris is from the top of Montparnasse, because it is the only place you can’t see the Montparnasse Tower. Next to it, the Eiffel Tower looks universally loved. If you want to compare the views, read whether the Montparnasse Tower is worth it.

A Few Facts Locals Like to Share

• Eiffel didn’t come up with the idea. The first design was drawn by two engineers in his company, Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, and refined by architect Stephen Sauvestre.
• It went up fast. Construction took 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, from early 1887 to March 31, 1889.
• It’s held together by rivets. About 18,000 wrought-iron pieces are joined by some 2.5 million rivets.
• It grows in summer. The iron expands in the heat, so the top can move by several centimeters.

Should Visitors Care What Parisians Think?

Not really. Locals may be blasé, but the tower is still a highlight for most first-time visitors, and many Parisians are happy to recommend seeing it at night. If you are deciding whether to go up, read our guide on whether the Eiffel Tower is worth visiting. And if you’re curious about local attitudes more broadly, see do Parisians hate tourists and are Parisians mean or nice.

Summary

Parisians once hated the Eiffel Tower, but today most of them like it, or at least feel a quiet affection for it, even if they avoid the crowds and rarely go up. It is a symbol of pride, a familiar landmark on the skyline and one of the most famous landmarks in France. For visitors and locals alike, seeing it sparkle on a summer night is still hard to beat.