10 Very Special Stairs You Will Want To Climb
Some are spectacular, others lead to or are part of incredible places. They are very special stairs, so much so that you surely wouldn’t mind going up and down them, even more than once. Put on comfortable shoes because we’re going to get some exercise, but it’s worth it!
1. Vatican Museums
It is an imposing double helix staircase. What does it mean? That a person who goes up and another who goes down does not necessarily have to meet, since it has two ramps. The optical effect and the light that enters through a glass rosette in the ceiling give life to a spectacular image, don’t you think?
2. Lello e Irmao Bookstore, Porto, Portugal
There are very special stairs , but this one is for several reasons. Because it is in one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. Because its sinuous shapes and colors are wonderful. Because his marquetry work is of a unique delicacy. And because JK Rowling passed through here, doesn’t this staircase remind you of the worlds of Harry Potter?
3. San Juan de Gaztelgulatxe, Bermeo, Spain
It is one of the most beautiful corners of the Spanish coast. A small hermitage at the top of an islet. And to get there you have to save 240 steps. From any point of the way the views are spectacular, and every effort is worth it. By the way, when you arrive, ring the bell three times and make a wish, tradition says it will be fulfilled.
4. Spanish Steps, Rome, Italy
If there is a romantic staircase, it is this one in the Spanish Steps in Rome. 135 wonderful steps to reach the church of Trinità dei Monti, or to sit down to rest, or to admire the views, or even to enjoy fashion shows because… isn’t it a perfect setting?
5. Castle of Chambord, France
Another magnificent double helix staircase. You can go up and down through different platforms and not cross, although you can see each other, thanks to some windows that overlook the lantern. What is this particular staircase about? Which is believed to have been designed by Leonardo da Vinci himself, who spent the last years of his life working here.
6. Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal
The Quinta da Regaleira is a dream world, a mansion surrounded by gardens full of symbolic elements and references to Freemasonry. And in them stands out a well that, they say, symbolizes an initiation rite. If you go down the stairs that surround it, you will reach a small hall with dark passageways. You dare?
7. Chand Baori, India
There are 3,500 steps in this well, and that despite the fact that it is barely 20 meters deep. They are divided into 13 levels of perfect symmetry. This gem is over a thousand years old and is in Abhaneri, in India. Surely you dare to look into the cistern, also to go up and down the stairs?
8. Melk Abbey, Austria
This abbey is an impressive temple of baroque shapes that keeps inside one of the most beautiful staircases you can imagine. A superbly ornate spiral staircase that leads to the library. As an anecdote, we will tell you that Umberto Eco inspired in this abbey his well-known work, The name of the rose .
9. Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, Braga, Portugal
They are very special stairs because they allow you to reach one of the great pilgrimage centers of Portugal. A magnificent staircase built in the 18th century and that spans a drop of more than one hundred meters. It has a zigzag shape and a whole series of sources in its different sections. By the way, if you don’t want to go up it, there is a funicular.
10. Some very special stairs: Puerta al Cielo, China
These are very special stairs because they take you to heaven. More exactly to Heaven’s Gate, a huge gap over a hundred meters high in the Tianmen Mountains. Of course, to reach it you need strength, because you will have to climb no less than 999 steps. In any case, the scenery is so fabulous that it is worth a try.
