If Paris is full of impressive, world-famous monuments, several little-known secrets surround these buildings. Here are some about three famous works.
Whether religious, purely architectural or even historical witnesses of friendship with other peoples, numerous monuments make the French capital shine. Here are some explosive secrets around three Parisian buildings.
The Eiffel Tower sold by an American scammer
Admired, visited by millions of people each year, and even reproduced in the four corners of the world such as in Las Vegas, the Eiffel Tower remains an emblematic monument.
Built between 1887 and 1889 before the Universal Exhibition, Gustave Eiffel's creation, which was the tallest building in the world for 41 years, was the subject of an almost romantic fraud.
Indeed, in the 1920s – when the building should have been deconstructed after the Universal Exhibition – the American crook Victor Lustig learned in the French press of the financial difficulties caused by the maintenance costs of the tower.
The man known at the time across the Atlantic for many thefts jumped at the opportunity and pretended to be a politician responsible for the sale of the monument, and lured several scrap dealer companies. He finally managed to “sell” the Iron Lady for a sum of around 100,000 francs.
His story will be taken up in several works including the book The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower, by James F. Johnson and Floyd Miller, released in 1963 and translated into French by the famous Calmann-Lévy publishing house.
The Obelisk of Concord taken from the Temple of Amun (Luxor)
In the center of Place de la Concorde (8th), the Luxor obelisk symbolizes the fraternity between the Egyptian and French peoples.
Offered by Viceroy Méhémet Ali to King Charles X, this 23 meter high construction was installed on the Parisian square in 1838.
For the record, its twin is still located at the entrance to the temple of Amun, in Luxor. It was Jean-François Champollion, a French linguist to whom we owe the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs using the Rosetta Stone, who chose the obelisk which would be repatriated to Paris.
The Sacré-Cœur is home to the largest mosaic in France
Overlooking the Montmartre hill (18th), the Sacré-Cœur basilica is an emblematic building in the north of Paris.
Visited by thousands of people each year, some have already been able to admire the impressive mosaic.
But many people are unaware that this representation of Christ is the largest mosaic in France, and also one of the most important in the world.
The drawing, spread over 475 square meters, also highlights several key figures of Catholicism such as Saint-Michel and the Virgin Mary.
