Potemkin Stairs

Potemkin Stairs
Stairs
Ukrainian: Потьомкінські сходи
Potemkin Stairs in Odesa, Ukraine
Potemkin Stairs in Odesa, Ukraine
DesignF. Boffo, Avraam 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; 30.74333

The Potemkin Stairs, Potemkin Steps (Ukrainian: Потьо́мкінські схо́ди, romanized: Potiomkinski skhody, Russian: Потёмкинская лестница), or, officially, Primorsky Stairs are a giant stairway in Odesa, Ukraine.[3] They are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odesa.[1]

The stairs were originally known as the Boulevard steps, the Giant Staircase,[4] or the Richelieu steps.[5][6][7][8] 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.[9][10][11][12]

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ Kononova, G. (1984). Odesa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 51
  3. ^ Davis, G.; Dickinson, K.; Patti, L.; Villarejo, A. (2015). Film Studies: A Global Introduction. Taylor & Francis. p. 425. ISBN 978-1-317-62338-0. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  4. ^ Karakina, Yelena; Samoilova, Tatyana; Ishchenko, Anna (2004). Touring Odessa. BDRUK. ISBN 9668137019. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. p. 32
  5. ^ 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
  6. ^ 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
  7. ^ 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"...
  8. ^ 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
  9. ^ Herlihy, p. 140 "12.5 meters wide and 21.5 meters wide"
  10. ^ Kononova, p. 51 "12.5 m at the top and 21.6 m at the bottom"
  11. ^ Karakina, p. 31 "13.4 and 21.7 meters wide"
  12. ^ Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 51