The Montparnasse Tower, often known as la Tour Montparnasse, is one of Paris’ most recognizable structures.
This office building has 58 floors with a total floor space of 88,400 square meters (952,000 square feet).
Discover some unknown Montparnasse Tower facts here.
It is named after the neighborhood
Montparnasse Tower is a skyscraper in Paris’s Montparnasse neighborhood.
This district is located in the city’s south, a few kilometers from notable Parisian sites such as the Eiffel Tower and Les Invalides.
The building sits alone in an area with no other towering buildings – making it one of the city’s most unusual sights.
The skyscraper was constructed on top of a metro station
The skyscraper is built on the “Montparnasse – Bienvenüe” metro station.
This station was previously known as the Montparnasse station.
It opened in 1906 and was renamed to add the name of the Paris Métro’s chief engineer, Fulgence Bienvenüe.
The Gare Montparnasse station, which connects Paris to nearly every important city in France, is also located across the street from the tower.
The tower’s construction began in the late 1960s
The tower is Paris’s oldest skyscraper. Architects Eugène Beaudouin, Urbain Cassan, and Louis Hoym de Marien designed the tower. Its construction began in 1969.
The French multinational VINCI erected the tower and built the Centre Pompidou, the Channel Tunnel, and the Stade de France.
The tower took four years to build and was finished in 1973.
It was France’s highest tower for more than four decades
Montparnasse Tower had the title of the tallest skyscraper in Paris when it was finished in 1973 until the 758-foot Tour First surpassed this mark in 2011 – 40 years later.
The 59-story Montparnasse Tower is still the tallest building in the French capital besides the La Défense area where the Tour First is located.
It is still the tallest skyscraper in France outside of La Défense!
You will get a 360-degree view from Montparnasse Tower
The view from the tower is quite spectacular. As you see Paris from the observation deck on the building’s roof, you have a 360-degree view of the city.
This allows for breathtaking views you won’t find anywhere else, such as the Stade de France behind Montmartre Hill and the Sacré-Coeur.
A clear day allows you to view up to 40 kilometers (25 miles) in all directions.
Buy your Montparnasse Tower tickets today and discover Paris from new heights!
The Montparnasse Tower is Paris’s first and oldest skyscraper
Montparnasse Tower was completed between 1969 and 1973, making it Paris’s oldest skyscraper.
It was inaugurated in June 1973, making it the first building of this height in the French capital.
To say that the skyscraper was not warmly received is an understatement
The tower was immediately lambasted upon completion and is not well-liked by Parisians.
The main complaint is that its basic style must align more with the city’s historic surroundings. Some believe it is a horror that should never have been built.
This is similar to how people felt about the Eiffel Tower, the city’s most famous landmark today.
Parisians wholeheartedly embraced the tower as the ultimate symbol of their city.
A new law was passed because of the tower
To underline how unpopular the skyscraper was, a new law was passed barely two years after it was finished to avoid such a disaster from happening again.
The law, which went into force in 1973, was straightforward. Buildings taller than seven floors were prohibited in the heart of Paris.
It took three years to remove a cancer-causing chemical from the tower
A 2005 research showed that the tower contains asbestos, a carcinogen that can cause cancer.
As a result, some companies renting office space in the tower left because the examination revealed that it was 20 times the legal limit in some regions.
The asbestos removal began in 2009 and finished three years later.
Purchase your tickets now and benefit from skip-the-line access at Montparnasse Tower.
There is a popular restaurant on one of the upper floors
One of Paris’ most famous restaurants is located on one of the top floors of Tour Montparnasse and is appropriately named “le Ciel de Paris,” which translates to “The Sky of Paris.”
The restaurant is on the 56th floor, at a height of more than 200 meters (656 feet).
A man climbed Montparanasee tower three times without any safety gear
Alain Robert, a French urban climber, repeated the feat in 2015 after completing it in 1995.
Robert scaled the tower’s outer glass and steel wall without any safety devices to the summit.
FAQs
1. Is Montparnasse greater in height than the Eiffel Tower?
The spectacular Montparnasse Tower is the tallest skyscraper in the French capital and the third tallest structure in France. It stands 210 meters above the earth (almost 100 less than the Eiffel Tower).
2. Can you go up the Montparnasse Tower?
Yes, you can go up the Montparnasse Tower. To accomplish this, the fastest elevator in Europe will whisk you to the top in under 38 seconds!
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