Breakneck Stairs
Escalier casse-cou | |
---|---|
Stairway | |
Breakneck Steps | |
Former name(s): escalier Champlain ("Champlain Stairs") escalier du Quêteux ("Beggars' Stairs") escalier de la Basse-Ville ("Lower Town Stairs") | |
The steps in 2007, viewed from Rue Sous-le-Fort | |
Completion | 1635 |
Steps | 59[1] |
Location | Quebec City, Quebec, Canada |
Click on the map to see marker | |
Coordinates: 46°48′46″N 71°12′13″W / 46.8127975303°N 71.203554234°W |
The Breakneck Stairs, or Breakneck Steps (French: Escalier casse-cou), is Quebec City's oldest stairway, built in 1635. Originally called escalier Champlain ("Champlain Stairs"), escalier du Quêteux ("Beggars' Stairs"), or escalier de la Basse-Ville ("Lower Town Stairs"), they were given their current name in the mid-19th century, because of their steepness. The stairs, which connect Côte de la Montagne in the "Upper Town" to the corner of Rue du Petit-Champlain and Rue Sous-le-Fort in the "Lower Town"), have been restored several times, including an 1889 renovation by Charles Baillargé, which converted the steps from a single flight into three parallel ones.[2]
Several businesses are located on the western side of the steps at each of its four flights.