3月31日，位于法國巴黎的埃菲爾鐵塔迎來建成130周年生日。一提起巴黎，我們就會想到埃菲爾鐵塔，它已經成為巴黎城市的象征。

然而當初剛建成時，它曾引起抗議和謾罵。關于埃菲爾鐵塔鮮為人知的這10件事，你都知道嗎？

The iconic symbol of Paris, the Eiffel Tower opened to the public on March 31, 1889, and the graceful metal structure has continued to captivate the world for 130 years.

埃菲爾鐵塔是巴黎的標志性建筑，于1889年3月31日向公眾開放。130年以來，這座宏偉的金屬結構建筑一直吸引著全球的目光。

But some little known facts about the Eiffel Tower may surprise you. We’ve put together a list.

但是關于埃菲爾鐵塔一些鮮為人知的事實可能讓你驚訝。我們一起來看看。

1) It was supposed to be torn down in 1909

原本打算1909年就把埃菲爾鐵塔拆掉

The original intention was for the structure, which was built for the 1889 World’s Fair, to be demolished after 20 years. But engineer Gustave Eiffel later arranged to have a radio antenna and transmitter placed in the tower, and the importance of the tower to communications spared it from demolition. Currently 120 antennas broadcast radio and television transmissions from the tower.

埃菲爾鐵塔是為1889年世界博覽會修建的，人們最初打算在20年后把它拆掉。但工程師古斯塔夫-埃菲爾之后在塔上安裝了無線電天線和發射機，鐵塔的通信作用使之保留了下來。目前塔上有120個無線電廣播和電視信號傳輸天線。

2) The Eiffel Tower once housed a newspaper printing plant

鐵塔上曾經有一家報紙印刷廠

During the 1889 World’s Fair, the newspaper Le Figaro set up a small printing operation on the third floor that produced a daily commemorative edition for visitors to buy.

在1889年的世界博覽會期間，法國《費加羅報》在埃菲爾鐵塔三樓設立了一個小型印刷廠，每天為游客提供紀念版報紙。

commemorative [k?'mem(?)r?t?v]：adj.紀念的

3) It’s the world’s most visited paid tourist attraction

埃菲爾鐵塔是全世界游客最多的付費旅游景點

Almost seven million visitors each year pay the admission fee to visit the Eiffel Tower. Since the structure opened in 1889, nearly 300 million people have experienced the tower.

每年有近700萬游客購買門票參觀埃菲爾鐵塔。自鐵塔1889年開放以來，已有近3億人前來參觀。

4) There’s an apartment at the top

鐵塔頂部有一間公寓

A private apartment that Gustave Eiffel used as an office was created at the top of the tower. Eiffel entertained dignitaries there, and today visitors to the apartment will see it as it looked in Eiffel’s day, with life-like wax models of Eiffel and Thomas Edison.

鐵塔建造者古斯塔夫-埃菲爾用作辦公的私人公寓位于塔頂，他在那里招待貴賓。如今，去塔頂公寓參觀的游客能見證埃菲爾的一天，那里還有埃菲爾和托馬斯-愛迪生的仿真人版蠟像。

dignitary ['d?gn?t(?)r?]：n.高官；顯要人物

5) You could send a postcard by balloon from the Eiffel Tower

你可以在埃菲爾鐵塔用氣球發送明信片

As a promotion during the 1889 World’s Fair, visitors could buy a commemorative postcard that was attached to a balloon and a small parachute. Visitors would write an address on the postcard and release it into the air from the tower. The postcard was supposed to fall back to earth gently due to the parachute, but it’s not known how many of these postcards ever made it to their intended addresses.

作為1889年世界博覽會期間的宣傳推廣活動，游客可以購買一張附帶在一個氣球和小型降落傘上的紀念明信片。參觀者在明信片上寫下地址，再將氣球放到空中。明信片會隨著降落傘緩慢落地，但不知道這些明信片中有多少曾經到達預期的地址。

6) The paint color of the Eiffel Tower presents an optical illusion

鐵塔的油漆顏色呈現視錯覺

Because the taller sections of the tower are against the brighter sky, the bronze paint color is shaded slightly darker than the color closer to the ground. This is to give the impression that the tower is painted in a single shade.

因為塔的較高部分與較亮的天空相對，所以那部分的青銅漆顏色比靠近地面的顏色略深。這樣是為了讓鐵塔的整體顏色看上去是一致的。

7) You can enjoy some bubbly at the top

你可以在塔頂享受香檳酒

The Eiffel Tower has a champagne bar at the top level. There are a couple of options available, starting at about $15 for a glass of bubbly.

埃菲爾鐵塔頂層設有香檳酒吧，飲品有多種選擇，一杯香檳酒起價約15美元（約合人民幣100元。

8) The Eiffel Tower is a naked Statue of Liberty

埃菲爾鐵塔是裸體版的自由女神像

So to speak. Gustave Eiffel’s company designed the metal structure that holds the Statue of Liberty together. You can think of the Eiffel Tower as a Statue of Liberty without the skin, though the shapes of the two structures are quite different.

可以這么說。古斯塔夫-埃菲爾的公司也為自由女神像設計了金屬結構。你可以認為埃菲爾鐵塔就是除去外部附著的自由女神像，盡管兩個建筑的形狀大相徑庭。

9) It’s much less crowded at night

晚上不那么擁擠

Visitors to Paris may not be as romantic as we thought. Although Paris is known as the City of Light and its illuminated attractions can easily be seen at night, the Eiffel Tower has much fewer visitors in the evening than during the day. The tower is open year-round until 11:45 pm, with the last admissions at 11 pm, 10:30 pm to visit the top. During the height of summer, the tower stays open for another hour.

巴黎游客可能沒我們想的那么浪漫。盡管巴黎以光之城著稱，晚上很容易看到眾多的照明景觀，但埃菲爾鐵塔晚上的游客比白天少得多。鐵塔全年開放，每日關閉時間為晚上11點45分，最后入場時間為晚上11點，塔頂最后入場時間是晚上10點半。在夏季旅游高峰期，鐵塔還延長開放一小時。

10) 19th-century elevators are still in operation

19世紀的電梯仍在運行

Two of the original elevator cars, and the 1899 hydraulic equipment, are still functioning in the Eiffel Tower elevators that go to the third floor in the east and west pillars. The equipment has been updated, but it is essentially the same technology that was used more than a century ago.

兩臺建塔時原有的電梯，以及1899年的液壓設備仍在運行，可以將游客送到東部和西部鐵柱的三層。電梯設備雖然經過更新，但基本上與一個多世紀以前使用的技術相同。

來源：哥倫布電訊報、參考消息網

編輯：yaning