A rather steep stairway! Eiffel Tower stairs sell for $556,000.


What do we know about the Eiffel Tower? That it is Paris’s most iconic landmark, it stands 324 meters tall and weighs 10,100 tonnes, and it is the most photographed structure in the world are among a few. Here’s a tidbit you probably did not know about. The stairs of the Eiffel tower can actually be sold!

Fourteen wrought-iron steps from a winding staircase between the second and third floors just sold for 523,800 euros ($556,000) after furious bidding at an auction in the French capital. That’s more than 10 times the estimated price. An Asian collector won the auction to claim hold to this section of stairs.

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Here’s some trivia for you. The stairs date from 1889 when the legendary French engineer Gustave Eiffel built the 1,063 Sq. ft. structure. They were later removed from the tower in 1983 to make way for a lift and cut into 24 sections ranging from two to nine meters high. While several were bought by museums others ended up in the gardens of the Yoshii Foundation at Yamanashi in Japan. Some lay beside the Statue of Liberty in New York and at Walt Disney World in Florida.

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Auctioneer Francois Tajan said, “the battle over the phone and in the auction room for the stairs showed the profound attachment there is for a monument that is so emblematic of French culture.”

[Via:Cbsnews]

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