Potemkin Steps (Potemkinskaya Ladder or Odessa Stairs) were constructed between 1837 and 1841. 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. This imposing monument numbers 192 stairs arranged in ten flights and flanked by two-meters thick parapets.

The stairs are considered a formal entrance into the city from the direction of the sea and are the best known symbol of Odessa. More About Potemkin Stairs