About Potemkin Stairs
The Potemkin Stairs are renowned for their optical illusion: from the top, only the landings are visible, creating the impression of a much shorter staircase. From the bottom, the steps appear to be an endless, ascending path. Originally, there were 200 steps, but today 192 remain after the lower sections were covered by road construction. The staircase descends from Primorsky Boulevard to the Odesa harbor and stretches for 142 meters with a vertical rise of 27 meters.
The Potemkin Stairs gained international fame due to Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 silent film "Battleship Potemkin," where a dramatized massacre on the steps became one of cinema's most iconic scenes. Today, the stairs serve as a popular tourist attraction, offering breathtaking views of the Odesa seaport and the Black Sea. The Potemkin Stairs symbolize the spirit of Odesa, combining artistic beauty, architectural ingenuity, and historical significance in one captivating structure.