Chapel With Spiral Staircase
Call it a marvel call it an inspired feat of engineering call it an aesthetic triumph the spiral staircase of loretto chapel is a work of beauty and deserves its status as an international tourist attraction.
Chapel with spiral staircase. You can do the same thing with a piece of wet wood. The identity of its builder the type of wood used and the physics of its construction. The loretto chapel in santa fe new mexico is a former roman catholic church that is privately owned today and it is used as a wedding chapel and a museum.
In the vatican museums the vast collections collected by the roman catholic church throughout the centuries are displayed. The only difference with the staircase at the loretto chapel is these beams or stringers have been twisted into a helix. When the loretto chapel was completed in 1878 there was no way to access the choir loft twenty two feet above.
Yet for over 90 years nuns students and interested by passers went up and down. Every spiral staircase that makes these 360 degree turns turns requires a center pole to support the weight of the stairs. The most remarkable part of the chapel is definitely its spiral staircase.
The entire weight is on the base. The spiral staircase is located in the vatican museums was designed by giuseppe momo in 1932. Staircase three mysteries surround the spiral staircase in the loretto chapel.
The word miracle however is misapplied. Think how a piece of licorice candy is a twisted stick. As seen today the vatican museums are comprised of several pontifical galleries and.
The sisters of loretto credited st. Joseph with its construction. Wedding couples posed without incident.
You can take a piece of flat wood get it wet and then twist it. The construction of the chapel began in 1873. The loretto chapel in santa fe new mexico usa is a former roman catholic church that is now used as a museum and a wedding chapel.
The stairs never crashed. Sources and further reading. The spiral stairway at santa fe s loretto chapel miraculously stands despite having no discernable means of support.
If you go up this grand spiral ramp you will be moving from the street level up to the floor of the vatican museums. This one has none. Since it was built architects have visited and agreed that the structure should have collapsed when any additional weight was added.