In 1886, more than a hundred writers, painters, sculptors and architects printed a petition that fiercely criticised the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Described as an “unfinished, confused, deformed iron mast”, a “tragic lamp post”, or an “unsightly skeleton”, the tower was reviled by the Parisian society. Its detractors feared that it would damage the image of Paris and become a laughing stock for the whole world. Gustave Eiffel invited influential columnists to lunch on the first floor of the tower. Most of them left conquered by the unique view. In the year of its inauguration, the tower was visited by more than 2 million people. A record for the time.