The Eiffel Tower was closed on Monday after staff went on strike over the removal of female workers during a visit by a Hindu religious delegation, workers and management confirmed.
A delegation of around 100 people linked to the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement visited the Paris landmark on Saturday.
Staff union representative Diane Davoine said that as the delegation arrived, women were told to leave their posts.
"During the visit of this delegation, women were asked to leave their places of work in order to place men there," she said.
A statement from Eiffel Tower staff said they condemned "professional instructions that led to female employees being sidelined, replaced and made invisible because of their sex" during the visit.
"Some were asked to leave their posts and withdraw to other areas. In some posts they were replaced by men. And all female employees were instructed not to go through or cross certain areas while the delegation was present," staff said, adding they were shocked to have been put in such a situation.
Societe d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel (SETE), the company that operates the monument, confirmed the delegation had requested the visit be organised to limit "interactions with women". The firm said "these conditions should not have been accepted" and that they "were not in line with SETE's values, nor with the principles of equality between men and women."
SETE president Ariel Weil said: "It is clearly not an acceptable practice. I restate the Eiffel Tower's commitment to republican values and to the equality of men and women."
Management also apologised to workers over the incident, according to Davoine.
"So that absolutely does not go down well with the employees, with women obviously, who are all humiliated by what happened, by the way some were treated," Davoine said.
She added: "Tensions mounted over the weekend, so this morning, the employees decided to meet: first, to open a dialogue with management, and second, to ensure that women are never treated this way at the company again."
The tower was set to reopen on Tuesday following a meeting between staff and management the previous day.
BAPS apologised for "any pain or inconvenience caused" by the visit. In a statement on social media, the organisation said their trip was "arranged in conjunction with the Eiffel Tower team at the start of normal opening hours to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing others."
"To the best of our knowledge, at no point was anyone prevented access to the Eiffel Tower," BAPS added. "We believe in the universal values of mutual respect and service."
The visit took place a day before BAPS consecrated its first major temple in France, in the suburbs of Paris, on Sunday. On its website, BAPS describes itself as a "spiritual, volunteer-driven fellowship dedicated to improving society" through Hindu values, with temples in major cities around the world including London, Los Angeles and Sydney.
The incident drew swift condemnation from French politicians. Paris Mayor Emmanuel Gregoire said an investigation would be launched into the circumstances of the visit.
"I am taking note of the anger expressed by the employees of the Eiffel Tower, and I want to tell them that their discontent is legitimate," he wrote on social media. "Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone."
Yael Braun-Pivet, president of France's National Assembly, said: "I refuse to allow women to be compelled to step aside in order to meet the demands of foreign visitors." In a separate post she added: "Welcoming others never means giving up our values. In France, women are fully present in public life. No one tells them to become invisible."
Hard-right leader Marine Le Pen said: "In France, we will never accept that the presence of women be 'limited'."
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who has announced he will run for the presidency next year, said: "In France, no culture, no belief, no worship, nothing nor anyone can come to dictate to women their place."
