A spiral segment of the Eiffel Tower's original staircase sold for more than $500,000 at auction in Paris on Thursday.
The buyer, who was in the auction room, became the owner of a 14-step section of staircase that stands nearly 3 meters (9 feet) tall, weighs 1.4 tons and dates back to 1889, the year the monument that towers over central Paris was completed.
"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," said Sabrina Dolla, Art Deco design director at Artcurial Paris auction house, where the sale took place.
More than four decades ago, a total of 526 feet of staircase were cut into smaller sections and sold, replaced by elevators that now carry visitors to the Eiffel Tower's highest viewing platform.
The section auctioned on Thursday fetched 450,160 euros ($521,825.47), three times the upper range of its pre-sale estimated value of between 120,000 euros and 150,000 euros.
In 2008, one section was sold to a private American buyer for a record of 550,000 euros. Other pieces of the Eiffel Tower staircase, ranging from nine to 30 feet, are housed at prestigious venues around the globe.
Portions are preserved near the Statue of Liberty in New York, in the gardens of the Yoshi Foundation in Yamanashi, Japan, as well as in private foreign collections.
Dolla said the Paris 2024 Olympics, which saw landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde and the Grand Palais take center stage at the games, had boosted the tower's appeal among collectors.
"We’re definitely seeing a renewed interest in what it symbolizes and in its aesthetic appeal,” she added.
