List of ancient spiral stairs facts for kids
Have you ever walked up a spiral staircase? They're pretty cool, right? This article is all about the amazing spiral stairs built a long, long time ago by the ancient Greeks and Romans. A spiral staircase is like a giant corkscrew, winding its way up. Because they're tricky to build, they didn't show up in buildings until much later in history.
The very first one we know of was built around 480 BC. But it was a famous Roman monument, Trajan's Column, that really made spiral stairs popular. After that, Romans started putting them everywhere because they saved so much space! Besides huge victory columns in cities like Rome and Constantinople, spiral stairs were also found in temples, big public baths (called thermae), large public halls (basilicas), and even tombs.
Interestingly, they weren't used much in army buildings like the Aurelian Wall towers. This suggests they weren't a big part of Roman military building plans. Later on, separate stair towers were sometimes built next to main buildings, like at the Basilica of San Vitale. The idea of spiral stairs then spread to both Christian and Islamic buildings.
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Famous Ancient Spiral Stairs
Ancient engineers built many impressive spiral staircases. Here are some of the most well-known examples from the Greek and Roman worlds.
Early Greek Examples
- Temple A in Selinunte, Italy
- This temple, built around 480 BC, has the oldest known spiral stairs. It had two of them!
Roman Masterpieces
- Trajan's Column in Rome, Italy
- Built in 113 AD, this famous column is nearly 30 meters (about 98 feet) tall. Inside, there's a single spiral staircase with 14 steps for each full turn. It was a huge influence on later designs.
- Column of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, Italy
- This column, from the late 2nd century AD, is very similar to Trajan's Column. It's also almost 30 meters tall and has one spiral staircase with 14 steps per turn.
- Baths of Caracalla in Rome, Italy
- These huge public baths, built between 212 and 216 AD, featured two spiral staircases.
- Baths of Diocletian in Rome, Italy
- Another massive bath complex, built from 298 to 305 AD, had four spiral staircases!
- Round Temple at Ostia in Rome, Italy
- This temple from the 3rd century AD had a single spiral staircase.
- Santa Costanza in Rome, Italy
- Built around 350 AD, this building also included a spiral staircase.
Spiral Stairs Beyond Rome
- Tomb of Galerius in Thessaloniki, Greece
- From the early 4th century AD, this tomb had two spiral staircases.
- Imperial Baths in Trier, Germany
- These baths, also from the early 4th century AD, were quite grand, featuring eight spiral staircases!
- Column of Theodosius in Constantinople, Turkey
- Built between 386 and 394 AD, this column was about 50 meters (164 feet) tall and had one spiral staircase inside.
- St. Gereon's Basilica in Cologne, Germany
- This basilica from the late 4th century AD had a 16.5-meter (54-foot) tall spiral staircase.
- Column of Arcadius in Constantinople, Turkey
- Built between 401 and 421 AD, this column was around 46 meters (150 feet) tall and also contained a single spiral staircase.
- Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy
- Built between 527 and 548 AD, this famous basilica had a pair of stair towers, each with a spiral staircase.
- Gate of the Great Palace in Constantinople, Turkey
- Around 532 AD, there was a spiral stairway here, mentioned by the historian Procopius.
- Sangarius Bridge in Adapazarı, Turkey
- Built between 559 and 562 AD, this bridge had a spiral staircase inside a pier of its triumphal arch. It was about 10.37 meters (34 feet) tall.
Gallery
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Column of Marcus Aurelius. An almost 30-meter (98-foot) high spiral staircase winds up inside, with 14 steps per full turn.
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See also
- Greek architecture
- Greek technology
- Roman technology
- Roman engineering
