What city was the original intended home of the Eiffel Tower?

The original intended home of the Eiffel Tower was Barcelona, Spain. Gustave Eiffel’s company developed the tower design for the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, before the project was redirected to Paris.

The concept began with engineers Maurice Koechlin and Émile Nouguier, who sketched a 300-metre iron tower in 1884. Architect Stephen Sauvestre later refined its appearance, and Gustave Eiffel supported and promoted the proposal. Barcelona’s authorities reportedly rejected the design as too unconventional and unsuitable for the city’s planned exhibition grounds.

The project found a new opportunity in France’s 1889 Exposition Universelle, held in Paris to mark the centenary of the French Revolution. Built on the Champ de Mars, the tower opened in 1889 and became the exposition’s signature attraction. It was initially intended to be temporary, but its usefulness for scientific experiments and radio communications helped save it from demolition.

A common mix-up is that Barcelona was not the tower’s final location: Paris is its permanent home, while Barcelona was the earlier proposed destination for the project.