Potemkin Stairs

A must in Odessa!!! The city symbol connects sea and central town, is 142 m long and goes up 124 m! Originally also known as Boulevard steps, Giant Staircase, or Richelieu steps, the first 200 steps were built in 1825. 1837 – 1841, the English engineer Upton constructed the nom monumental stairway in sandstone, which had to be replaced by rose-grey granite, in 1933. 8 stars were lost, the remaining 192 ones, plus 10 landings, can be admired today. In 1906, Odessa people became lazy and annoyed by walking steps – a funicular was built to transport people. In 1970, the funicular stopped and an escalator was installed – and repaired in 2004. In early Soviet times called Primorsky Stairs, it got its name in the 1950s to honor Battleship Potemkin, a silent film from 1925, directed by famous Sergei Eisenstein. In 1958, this film was nominated “greatest film of all times”, and the Odessa Potemkin steps sequence played a key role in it, showing a baby in a carriage, falling down the steps. On top of the stairs, go to start of Primorsky Boulevard and Duke de Richelieu Monument, a bronze statue, dedicated to Odessa's first Mayor and unveiled in 1826. A cannonball got stuck in the pedestal in 1854. Today, the bronze monument is participating in all major city events, on Humor Day (April 1), or during Jazz Carnival, when it is decorated with a sailor's cap or a clown's wig or – with mask and suit – a stylish Duke Ellington for jazz fans. Further on, at Catherine Square, there is the monument to Catherine the Great, who initiated the founding of Odessa.

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