Potemkin Stairs

The Potemkin Stairs, Potemkin Steps (, ), or, officially, Primorsky Stairs are a giant stairway in Odesa, Ukraine. They are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odesa. (hardcover; , paperback reprint)

The stairs were originally known as the Boulevard steps, the Giant Staircase, p. 32 or the Richelieu steps. p. 119. Referencing p. 616 p. 18, 25 p. 498 "The Richelieu Steps in Odessa were renamed the "Potemkin Steps"... p. 223 The top step is 12.5 meters (41 feet) wide, and the lowest step is 21.7 meters (70.8 feet) wide. The staircase extends for 142 meters, but it gives the illusion of greater length.Herlihy, p. 140 "12.5 meters wide and 21.5 meters wide"Kononova, p. 51 "12.5 m at the top and 21.6 m at the bottom"Karakina, p. 31 "13.4 and 21.7 meters wide" p. 51

History

Odesa, perched on a high steppe plateau, needed direct access to the harbor below it. Before the stairs were constructed, winding paths and crude wooden stairs were the only access to the harbor.

The original 200 stairs were commissioned by Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, the regional governor-general, as both a gift to his wife Elisabeth and to gain support from the local elites, many of whom lived at the top of the future staircase along Prymorskyi Boulevard. Accordingly, they were originally referred to variously as the ''Primorsky Stairs'', or alternatively as the ''Boulevard Stairs'' or ''Giant Stairs''. They were designed in 1837 by Italian architect Francesco Boffo and St. Petersburg architects Avraam Melnikov and Pot'e.Kononova, p. 48.Kononova confusingly writes on page 48, "The idea of an architectural ensemble with a broad flight of stone steps leading to the sea which links the high bank with the low shore and provides a gateway to the city, belongs to the well-known St. Petersburg 19th century architect Avraam Melnikov", but on page 51 writes, "The famous Potemkin stairs leading from the square to the sea and Uiltsa Suvorova (Suvorov St.) was designed in 1825 by F. Boffo". The staircase cost 800,000 rubles to build.

In 1837, the decision was made to build a "monstrous staircase", which was constructed between 1837 and 1841. English engineer John Upton supervised construction. Upton had fled Britain while on bail for forgery. p. 61
Upton went on to oversee the construction of the huge dry-docks constructed in Sevastopol and completed in 1853.

Greenish-grey sandstone from the Austrian port of Trieste (now in Italy) was shipped in.

As erosion destroyed the stairs, in 1933 the sandstone was replaced by rose-grey granite from the Boh area, and the landings were covered with asphalt. Eight steps were lost under the sand when the port was being extended, reducing the number of stairs to 192, with ten landings.

The steps were made famous in Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film '' Battleship Potemkin''. On 11 July 2015, during the 6th International Film Festival, the European Film Academy put a commemorative plate on the stairs. The plate indicates that the Potemkin staircase is a memorable place for European cinema.

On the left side of the stairs, a funicular railway was built in 1906 to transport people up and down instead of walking. After 73 years of operation (with breaks caused by revolution and war), the funicular was replaced by an escalator in 1970. The escalator was in turn closed in 1997 but a new funicular was opened on 2 September 2005.

In 1955, during the Soviet era, the Primorsky Stairs were renamed as ''Potemkin Stairs'' to honor the 50th anniversary of the mutiny on the battleship ''Potemkin''. After the restoration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, like many streets in Odesa, the historic name, "Primorsky Stairs", was reinstated.

Duke de Richelieu Monument

At the top of the stairs is the Duke de Richelieu Monument, depicting Odesa's town governor. The Roman-toga figure was designed by the Russian sculptor, Ivan Petrovich Martos (1754–1835). The statue was cast in bronze by Yefimov and unveiled in 1826. It is the first monument erected in the city,Kononova, p. 48Herlihy, p. 21 and memorializes him for the period of growth and prosperity he led during the 11 years of his administration.

Observations and descriptions of the stairs

Gallery

File:Panoramio - V&A Dudush - Потемкинская лестница - Один из символов города.jpg, Potemkin Stairs; the landings are invisible from the bottom.
File:Потьомкінські сходи 22.jpg, Potemkin Stairs; the steps are invisible from the top.
File:Украина, Одесса - Потемкинская лестница 10 (cropped).jpg, alt=The lower station of the Odesa Funicular, with the Potemkin Stairs on the The lower station of the Odesa Funicular, with the Potemkin Stairs on the right

See also

* Odesa Funicular
* Depaldo stone stairs
* Yerevan Cascade
* FC Chornomorets Odesa
* The Filatov Institute of Eye Diseases & Tissue Therapy
* Odesa Opera and Ballet Theatre
* Seventh-Kilometer Market
* Rocky Steps
* Joker Stairs
* Exorcist steps

References

External links

*

{{Odesa

Buildings and structures in Odesa
Prymorskyi Boulevard
Stairways
Tourist attractions in Odesa
Transport infrastructure completed in 1841