Emblematic Eiffel Tower staircase up for auction in Paris

A portion of the Eiffel Tower’s original staircase will be up for auction on May 21, 2026, at the Artcurial House in Paris.

The 14-step spiral segment dates back to 1889, the year the Eiffel Tower was unveiled at the Exposition Universelle.

“Today, you can officially purchase pieces of the Eiffel Tower, thanks to an auction held in 1983, when the Eiffel Tower Company decided to lighten and modernize its staircases,” said Sabrina Dolla, Art Deco design director at Artcurial Paris. 

A total of 526 feet of staircase have been cut into sections and sold, having now been in circulation for over 40 years. They have been replaced by elevators, which take visitors to the top of the Eiffel Tower. 

The segment sold in this year’s auction is the first of the 20 sections first presented at a historic auction at the Eiffel Tower in 1983. It stands at 9 feet tall (2.74 meters), weighs 1,4 tonnes and is estimated between 120,000 and 150,000 euros ($140,443-$175,539).

The staircase’s value has been estimated based on its condition, dimensions and rarity, Dolla said.

“This section of staircase has been preserved for over 40 years in a sheltered environment within the same collection,” she said. 

The last auction of a chunk of the iconic monument's staircase was sold in a 2020 auction to a Canadian art collector for 253,500 euros ($296,726).

In 2008, a 9-foot section sold to a private American buyer for a record of 550,000 euros ($644, 360), ten times its estimated price.

“When you buy a piece of the Eiffel Tower, you’re buying a piece of Paris, along with all the imagination and symbolism it represents," Dolla said.

“Ever since the Olympics, the Eiffel Tower has really been the centre of attention, and we’re definitely seeing a renewed interest in what it symbolizes and in its aesthetic appeal,” she added.

Other Eiffel Tower staircase segments, ranging from nine to 30 feet, are now housed at prestigious venues around the globe.

Portions are preserved on the first deck of the Eiffel Tower, by the Statue of Liberty in New York, in the gardens of the Yoshi Foundation in Yamanashi, Japan, in French museums, as well as in private foreign collections.

Following its completion in 1889, the Eiffel Tower, designed by Gustave Eiffel, quickly became the emblem of Paris, and one of the most famous and most visited monuments in the world.

-Antony Paone, Elissa Darwish, Michaela Cabrera/Reuters