Potemkin Stairs

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Potemkin Stairs
Stairs
Ukrainian: Потьо́мкінські схо́ди
Russian: Потёмкинская ле́стница
Potemkin Stairs in Odessa, Ukraine
Potemkin Stairs in Odessa, Ukraine
DesignF. Boffo, Avraam I. Melnikov and Pot'e
Construction1837–1841
Opening date1841
Steps192
Height27 m
Surfacegranite, sandstone[1][2]
Dedicated toBattleship Potemkin
Coordinates: 46°29′21″N 30°44′36″E / 46.48917°N 30.74333°E / 46.48917; 30.74333Coordinates: 46°29′21″N 30°44′36″E / 46.48917°N 30.74333°E / 46.48917; 30.74333

The Potemkin Stairs or Potemkin Steps (Ukrainian: Потьо́мкінські схо́ди, Pot'yómkins'ki skhódy, Russian: Потёмкинская ле́стница, Potyómkinskaya léstnitsa) are a giant stairway in Odessa, Ukraine. They are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa.[1] The stairs were originally known as the Boulevard steps, the Giant Staircase,[3] or the Richelieu steps.[4][5][6][7] 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.[8][9][10][11]

History[]

The 142-metre-long Potemkin Stairs. Photo from between 1890 and 1900. Available at the Library of Congress, originally from the Detroit Publishing Company 1905
Potemkin Stairs circa early XX century

Odessa, 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.[1]

The original 200 stairs were designed in 1825 by Italian architect Francesco Boffo and St. Petersburg architects Avraam I. Melnikov and Pot'e.[1][12][13] The staircase cost 800,000 rubles to build.[1]

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.[14] 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.[1][2]

The Potemkin Stairs as seen in Battleship Potemkin

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.[1][2]

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.[15]

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.[2] The escalator was in turn closed in 1997 but a new funicular was opened on 2 September 2005.[16]

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.[17] After Ukrainian independence, like many streets in Odessa, the previous name – 'Primorsky Stairs' was reinstated to the stairs. Most Odessites still know and refer to the stairs by their Soviet name.

Potemkin Stairs and cinematography

Duke de Richelieu Monument[]

Statue of Duc de Richelieu

At the top of the stairs is the Duke de Richelieu Monument, depicting Odessa'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.[18][19]

See also[]

Potemkin Stairs; the landings are invisible from the bottom.
Potemkin Stairs; the steps are invisible from the top.
The lower station of the Odessa Funicular, with the Potemkin Stairs on the right

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Herlihy, Patricia (1991) [1987]. Odessa: A History, 1794–1914. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. 140. ISBN 0-916458-15-6. (hardcover; ISBN 0916458431, paperback reprint)
  2. ^ a b c d Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 51
  3. ^ Karakina, Yelena; Samoilova, Tatyana; Ishchenko, Anna (2004). Touring Odessa. BDRUK. ISBN 9668137019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. p. 32
  4. ^ Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy to the Tsar. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. 1990. ISBN 0-7735-0747-7. p. 119. Referencing USSR: Nagel Travel Guide Series. New York: McGraw Hill. 1965. p. 616
  5. ^ Bell, Christopher M; Bruce A Elleman (2003). Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-7146-5460-4. p. 18, 25
  6. ^ Montefiore, S Sebag (2001). The Prince of Princes: The Life of Potemkin. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-27815-2. p. 498 "The Richelieu Steps in Odessa were renamed the "Potemkin Steps"...
  7. ^ Woodman, Richard (2005). A Brief History Of Mutiny: A Brief History of Mutiny at Sea. Carroll & Graf Publishers. ISBN 0-7867-1567-7. p. 223
  8. ^ Herlihy, p. 140 "12.5 meters wide and 21.5 meters wide"
  9. ^ Kononova, p. 51 "12.5 m at the top and 21.6 m at the bottom"
  10. ^ Karakina, p. 31 "13.4 and 21.7 meters wide"
  11. ^ Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 51
  12. ^ Kononova, p. 48.
  13. ^ 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".
  14. ^ Reid, Anna (2000). Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine. Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3792-5. p. 61
  15. ^ "Potemkin Stairs". Odessa travel guide. 2019.
  16. ^ "Odessa Funicular Railway". Ukrainian Travel. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  17. ^ Karakina, p. 31
  18. ^ Kononova, p. 48
  19. ^ Herlihy, p. 21

External links[]

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