Monday, March 1, 2010

The Most Terrifying Spiral Staircases on Earth

Glasgow

Apart from the fact that they simply make you dizzy, spiral staircases are not for the faint of heart as this post will show. They are often in lofty places or the opposite, cramped dungeons, so mastering a spiral staircase is not a question of simply walking up or down. Claustrophobia, vertigo-inducing views and stomach-churning heights have to be braved because of those adventurous minds that installed spiral staircases in the scariest of places.

Long way down and low handrail at a tall pagoda in Singapore:
Singapore

Like a slightly heart-shaped vortex – don’t get sucked in:
ITC MIskolc

The square yet spiral staircase in an old apartment house in Hong Kong. Is that a trap door at the bottom?
Hong kong

Next, on to a treehouse: at 80 ft in height, the spiral staircase winding around a fir tree at Cedar Creek Treehouse, Mt. Rainier, is called “Stairway to Heaven”. The reason for this is that it leads to Cedar Creek Observatory, reachable via a 43 ft-long suspension bridge. We’re not sure what’s scarier – the climb up the tree, or the walk across the bridge.

Here’s a view from low down:
Cedar Creek staircase

… and from up top:
Cedar Creek STairway to Heaven

Almost there – the observatory:
Cedar Creek Observatory

The scary outside staircase below winds its way around the chimney of the old Bóbila Almirall in Terrassa, Catalonia. At 63 m, it is the world’s tallest chimney with a spiral staircase. In case you’re contemplating going up, it’s 234 steps to the top and there’s not much of a handrail to hold on to!

Old chimney in Terrassa, Spain:
Terrassa

Lighthouse stairs surely have their scary element, given their length and the claustrophobia factor.

Looking up at the lighthouse in Brunate, Italy:
Brunate

Santa Barbara lighthouse with see-through staircase:
Santa Barbara lighthouse

And fire escapes and building staircases can be scary if the view down makes your stomach feel queasy. We’ve found a few that fit the description.

Inside the Julius Tower in Berlin Spandau:
Julius Tower

The image above was taken inside the 30 m tall Julius Tower. It is part of the Spandau Citadel, one of Europe’s most important Renaissance forts, built between 1559 and 1594. Its famous wooden spiral staircase was reconstructed in 1964 after the neo-Gothic one of 1843.

Only in emergencies – old fire escape on a building in Boston:
Fire escape Boston

Those who like to go spelunking may want to tour California’s Moaning Cavern. Just be warned that this rickety looking staircase is part of the package…

Dark, rickety and claustrophobic:
Moaning Cavern

The Statue of Liberty in New York, though exhilarating to get to, rich in history and an important monument, is not for those with an aversion to cramped spaces and climbing tiny, dizzying steps in one direction.

Looking up at the steel construction:
Statue of liberty

This staircase used to take tourists up – no longer because of security reasons:
Statue of Liberty

Climbing up to the crown:
statue of liberty

Iraq’s Malwiya Tower:
Malwiya Tower

Then, there are buildings that are only staircases – the spiral minaret, or Malwiya Tower, above at the Great Mosque of Samarra, 125 km (78 miles) north of Baghdad, is one of them. Commissioned and built in the 9th century, at 52 m high and 33 m wide at the base, it was for a long time the world’s largest mosque. Though the ramp spiraling up to the top is quite broad, there’s no protection on the sides; one step too far and it’s a free fall down.

Here’s an image with people, tiny in comparison:
Malwiya

Anyone who has been inside the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi’s monumental church in Barcelona, Spain, will agree that its long and winding stone staircases in each 170 m-tall spire are by far the building’s scariest features – about 20 stories tall without a handrail.

This is just the beginning…
Sagrada Familia

… or option 2, the elevator:
Sagrada Familia lift

…before you know it, you look down at something like this:
Sagrada Familia

Says photographer Travis Miller about how he took the shot above: “I was the only person in the towers this day and going down was quite the mental challenge to keep my mind focused on the task at hand…don’t know if I could handle it today … I was tottering quite badly.”

Sagrada Familia

We don’t blame you, Travis! Great capture given the mental challenge. We’ll leave you with this thought and would love to hear which of the staircases above is your personal scariest.