Staircases of the World

The Endless Staircase / Umschreibung, Munich

The sleek steel of this 30-foot-tall double-helix staircase pops against the backdrop of an orange-and-glass vertical office tower. Located in the courtyard of the global accounting firm KPMG Deutsche Treuhand-Gesellschaft since 2004, Umschreibung (or “rewriting” in German) is the creation of the Danish artist Olafur Eliasson. The staircase doesn’t actually lead anywhere and isn’t open to the public to climb, but it certainly makes a statement.

Photo source: munichtourism.net

St. Pancras Hotel, London

This grand double staircase, with its original wrought-iron balustrade and vivid patterned carpeting, swirls up three stories of this Gothic Revival hotel adjacent to St. Pancras Station. It was lovingly restored in 2011, but much of its original late-19th-century character remains, from the vaulted gold-leaf ceiling to the red hand-stenciled wall designs. Even the Spice Girls took a liking to this staircase, dancing on the steps in their music video for “Wannabe” back in 1994.

Photo: © St. Pancras Renaissance London Hote

Vatican Museums’ Spiral Staircase, Rome

Pope Pius XI charged Giuseppe Momo with designing a bronze staircase at the entrance to the Vatican Museums in the late 1920s. He rose to the challenge, creating wide ramp like steps and two separate helixes of the spiral staircase so that one leads up and the other goes down—twisting together into a double-helix formation. The staircase’s finishing touches, bronze angel decorations, were the contribution of sculptor Antonio Maraini.

Photo: Alvaro Rodrigo Marqués / Flickr

Contarini del Bovolo, Venice

Palazzo Contarini del Bovolo features a cylindrical Gothic tower with a spiral staircase with elegant white vertical arches. The stairs are said to be the work of Giovanni Candi, who was employed by the aristocratic Contarini family to enhance the tower at the turn of the 16th century. Climb to the top for a fantastic panoramic view of Venice.

Photo: HarshLight / Flickr

Tulip Stairs at the Queen's House, Greenwich

The Queen’s House in Greenwich, England, features the first geometric self-supporting spiral staircase in Great Britain— commissioned back in 1616. The intricate flowers in the wrought-iron balustrade inspired the name Tulip Stairs (although, technically, the stylized blossoms are said to be fleurs-de-lis).

Photo: mcginnly / Flickr

Chand Baori, Abhaneri

One of the oldest and most attractive landmarks in Rajasthan is Chand Baori. Perhaps the most visually spectacular and largest stepwell. Chand Baori is a deep four-sided structure with an immense temple on one face. 3,500 Escher-esqe terraced steps march down the other three sides 13 stories to a depth of 100 feet. The construction dates to the tenth century, and is dedicated to Harshat Mata, goddess of joy and happiness

Photo: Selmer van Alten / Flickr

Louvre Musseum, Paris

Architect I. M. Pei’s controversial addition of a 71-foot glass pyramid is now as iconic as the Louvre’s original 18th-century structure. This staircase within the pyramid leads visitors down to the Louvre’s subterranean plaza. Centered in the museum’s old stone courtyard and unveiled in 1989, the pyramid has become a preferred entryway to the galleries.

Photo: Peter Alfred Hess / Flickr

Staircase Tower, Château de Blois, Loire Valley

The Renaissance kings and queens of France chose this Loire Valley palace as their preferred residence and continued making refinements. When François I took over in 1515, he made his own mark by adding a wing with this staircase tower—notable for the interior’s beautiful spiral staircase and for an ornately carved exterior that mimics the likeness of a tower. It turned out to be the most recognizable part of the Château de Blois.

Photo: Peter Klovovi / Flickr

Mosaic Staircase, San Francisco

There are 163 mosaic panels—one for each step—that make up this staircase at 16th Avenue and Moraga in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Heights neighborhood. The panels begin depicting the ocean and, by the time you reach the highest step, you’re in the sky with the birds. Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher designed the thematic mosaics and enlisted the help of community members. After several years of work and fundraising, the stairs were completed in 2005.

Photo lpcmidst0128 / Flickr

Lello Bookshop, Porto

Opened in 1906 in Portugal, Lello is one of the world’s most beautiful bookstores, thanks largely to its centerpiece: this glossy red staircase with carved wooden banisters that leads up to a glass atrium. The stairs are just as beautiful from underneath, with carved leaf like flourishes and the same bluish-green and gold paint as the ceiling above it. Look for lovely neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau elements to the rest of the shop as you browse.

Photo: Juanita NG / TheVancouverSun