Famous Stair Structures around the World – The Momo Staircase

The Vatican Museums’ spiral staircase is one of the most photographed staircases in the world. The spiral staircase, also called the Momo Staircase after it’s designer Giuseppe Momo, is made up of two wrought iron stairways. One stairway is going up, the other down. Curving in a double spiral, this beautiful helical staircase is truly breathtaking.

Traversing the grand spiral stairway you will move from the street level to the floor of the Vatican Museums. The Vatican Museums are among the most important museums in the world. The Vatican Museums hold century old collections gathered by the Roman Catholic Church. Among the several galleries and displays, you will find many masterpieces including the famous painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The museums are home to the most significant masterpieces of Renaissance art in the entire world. But despite all of the incredibly notable works of art that are displayed in the Vatican Museums, one of the most stunning masterpieces is the spiral staircase.

The incredible curved staircase of the Vatican Museums was designed by Giuseppe Momo in the year 1932. Momo was a famous Italian architect and engineer and was active during the early decades of the twentieth century. He built many important religious buildings all over Italy, but he is especially known for his work in Rome. It is very unlikely that Momo realized how greatly appreciated his staircase would be when he was first commissioned in 1932, but now that staircase is one of the most popular staircases in the world.

Although once walked by every visitor entering the museums, the staircase is no longer on route, but you can still visit and photograph the staircase. It is hard to imagine how a staircase can change the impact of its surroundings and the ambiance of a building, but a staircase is more than capable of doing just that. Staircases are so much more than structural methods of vertical travel, but masterpieces in their own right.

Article by Amber Burkhart

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   by  jiuguangw