The mysterious helix staircase of the Loretto Chapel

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in New Mexico, US. But it is not just the age of the city that makes it a popular destination. In the centre of the city stands an architectural landmark, a former Roman Catholic Church, which is known as the Loretto chapel. The church was built in the 1870s and it has a French gothic style, but unlike other chapels where you admire the paintings, statues, stained glass and masonry skills, this chapel is famous for its helix spiral staircase, otherwise called the “Miraculous Stair”.

According to legend, which has since been made into a movie called “The Staircase” (1998), the nuns of the Loretto Chapel that were there when it was been built realized at some point that they had to find a way to build a staircase to connect the choir loft to the ground floor. They didn’t want the staircase to be big because it would take up too much space, so they went to the local carpenters but no one could provide a feasible solution.