Globe Céleste

Image:Tour Eiffel et le Globe Céleste.jpg of the Globe Céleste beside the Eiffel Tower.]]

Image:Suchard - Globe céleste.jpg, a Swiss brand of chocolate.]]

The Globe Céleste was an icon of the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris, similar to the Eiffel Tower.{{Clarify|date=February 2018}} It was constructed in the shape of a large globe and stood close to the Eiffel Tower. It was in the form of a blue and gold sphere, 45 meters in diameter, on which were painted the constellations and signs of the zodiac. The sphere rested on a base about 18 meters high, made up of four masonry pillars that housed staircases and elevators, giving access to a flower-decked terrace at the top of the globe that was "catered for armchair space-travellers: spectators leaned back in easy chairs while panoramas depicting the solar system were rolled past."[https://books.google.com/books?id=OE2hwwbGS7oC&q=globe+celeste&pg=PA25 Google Books:] Maxwell, Anne – Colonial Photography and Exhibitions, 1999, {{ISBN|0-7185-0229-9}} p. 25 below{{Where|date=February 2018}}

The attraction had been designed by {{ill|Napoleon de Tédesco|fr}} and built according to the Matrai system.

On April 29, 1900, the pedestrian bridge to the tourist attraction collapsed near Suffren Avenue, killing 9 people and injuring several others. The accident led the French authorities to an inquiry. The Committee on Reinforced Cement was created by the ministerial decree of December 19, 1900. A later judicial proceeding held the City of Paris responsible, condemning it for carrying out excavations too close to the bridge which led to its collapse.{{cn|date=December 2017}}