The Potemkin Stairs serve as the grand architectural entrance to the city of Odesa from the sea and are one of its most iconic landmarks. Designed by architect Francesco Boffo and built in 1841 at the request of Governor-General Count Mikhail Vorontsov, the staircase originally consisted of 200 steps—now reduced to 192.
Connecting the Primorsky Boulevard near the statue of Duke de Richelieu with the Odesa Sea Port, the stairs descend in ten flights. Their unique design features a wider base than top, creating an optical illusion: from above, they appear uniform in width, while from below, they seem much longer than they are.
The stairs gained worldwide fame thanks to Sergei Eisenstein’s film "Battleship Potemkin", which includes the legendary scene of a baby carriage tumbling down the steps. A funicular was built alongside the stairs in 1902 and was fully modernized in 2005.
Photo: Discover.ua
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