Grande Roue de Paris

Grande Roue de Paris, ca. 1900
Exposition Universelle of 1900, viewed from north north east
Share of the Paris Gigantic Wheel and Varieties Company, issued 20. September 1898

The Grande Roue de Paris was a 96-metre (315 ft) tall[1] Ferris wheel built in 1900 for the Exposition Universelle world exhibition at Paris. Financing the "Grande Roue de Paris" happened by the creation of the "Paris Gigantic Wheel and Varieties Company" and selling the shares of this company.[2]

It was the tallest wheel in the world at the time of its opening.

Théodore Vienne, the industrialist and founder of the Paris–Roubaix cycle race, was both owner and director of the Grande Roue de Paris.

It was disassembled between 1920 and 1922[3] and rag-and-bone merchants used the pods as huts to carry on their trade. This evolved, through second-hand shops, into the antique trade that is now to be found on the site and known as the Swiss Village.

The passenger cars were removed from the wheel and used as homes for French families when the region was devastated by World War I.[4] Almost 90 years passed between its construction and a taller wheel, the 107.5-metre (353 ft) Cosmo Clock 21, being built in Japan.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Alfred Picard (1900). "Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Paris 1900 : Le bilan d'un siècle". worldfairs.info.
  2. ^ "The Paris Gigantic Wheel and Varieties Company Limited". 22 January 2012. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  3. ^ Anderson, Norman D (1992). Ferris wheels: an illustrated history. Popular Press. p. 141. ISBN 9780879725327.
  4. ^ New York Times Picture Section 5, Sunday, April 3, 1921

External links

  • La Grande Roue de 1900 à Paris
  • French wiki article re: Swiss Village
  • English website from the Swiss Village in Paris
Preceded by World's all-time tallest Ferris wheel
1900-1989
Succeeded by
Preceded by World's tallest extant Ferris wheel
1900-1920
Succeeded by

48°51′08″N 2°17′57″E / 48.85222°N 2.29917°E / 48.85222; 2.29917

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