The famous Potemkin Stairs in Odessa connects the city center with the Maritime Station and the harbor. The giant staircase was designed by architects Francesco Boffo, Potier and Avraam Melnikov in 1825. Engineers Morozov and Wopton built it in 1841. At that time, in Odessa, the sea was washed by the foot of a cliff, at the base of which a port was built. According to the urban old-timer Deribass, a steep path led to the sea, and Prince Vorontsov, as a gift to his beloved wife, decided to build a staircase.
The staircase was designed by engineer Wopton and is a wedge made of limestone. It is held by wooden piles and crossed by three longitudinal and nine transverse galleries, resting at the intersections on strong pillars. A stone staircase rests on massive pillars, and galleries form spectacular arcades.
Today the Potemkin Stairs consists of 192 steps, but 200 steps were initially laid, the rest fell asleep during the expansion of the port. The length of the stairs is 142 meters, it includes ten spans.
The width of the base of the grandiose structure is 21.7 m, which is much wider than its upper part, which is 12.5 m. When viewed from top to bottom, it creates a deceptive impression of equal width throughout the staircase, its steps seem endless, and the parapets look parallel. Seen from below, the Potemkin Stairs seem much longer and more magnificent. The optimal angle of inclination and a large number of sites allows the pedestrian to easily climb up.
This colossal building became world famous thanks to the film by Sergey Eisenstein “Battleship Potemkin”, shot in 1925. The script of the film was based on the real events of the uprising of the team of the battleship “Prince Potemkin-Tauride”, which happened in 1905. When the sailors transported the body of one of the organizers of the uprising to Odessa, the workers tried to break into the port. Tsarist troops opened fire on civilians in the city. In his film, Sergei Eisenstein created a generalized picture of senseless and brutal violence. A key moment in the story was the descent of the stroller with the baby inside.
Thanks to the movie, the staircase got its modern name. She was officially called Potemkinskaya only in the 1950s, after the war. On a cast-iron plate certifying the status of a monument of architecture, it is said that for some time it was officially called the Seaside staircase. It is believed that in the past she bore different names, namely: Portovaya, Vorontsovskaya, Bolshaya, Boulevard, Bolshaya. But in the primary sources there is no confirmation of this information.
In 1933, sandstone was replaced with pink-gray granite, and the sites were covered with asphalt. In 1902, a funicular was built next to the stairs connecting the Seaside Boulevard with Seaside Street. In the 70s he was replaced by an escalator. And in the 90s, the Odessa authorities decided to build a new funicular. In 2005, it began to function. Each year, this grandiose building turns into a venue for the race “Up the Potemkin Stairs”. Every year on September 2, the Potemkin Stairs becomes a large platform where a concert dedicated to the city’s birthday is held.