Potemkin Stairs - Odessa
by Christiane Schulze Art And Photography
Title
Potemkin Stairs - Odessa
Artist
Christiane Schulze Art And Photography
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Digital Photography
Description
Copyright: Christiane Schulze
The Potemkin Stairs is a giant stairway in Odessa, Ukraine. The stairs are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa.
Officially known today as the Primorsky Stairs,they were originally known as the Boulevard steps, the Giant Staircase, or the Richelieu steps.
The top step is 12.5 metres (41 ft) wide, and the lowest step is 21.7 metres (70.8 ft) wide. The staircase is 27 metres (88.5 ft) high, and extends for 142 metres (465.9 ft), but it gives the illusion of greater length.
The stairs were designed to create an optical illusion. A person looking down the stairs sees only the landings, and the steps are invisible, but a person looking up sees only steps, and the landings are invisible. A secondary illusion creates false perspective since the stairs are wider at the bottom than at the top. Looking up the stairs makes them seem longer than they are and looking down the stairs makes them seem not so long.
From Wikipedia
Uploaded
November 3rd, 2012
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