Loretto Chapel, Gothic Revival chapel and museum in Santa Fe, United States.
Loretto Chapel is a Gothic Revival church and museum in Santa Fe, known for its double-helix wooden staircase without a central support column. The staircase rises about twenty feet to the choir loft and consists of wooden sections held together through skilled carpentry techniques.
The Sisters of Loretto commissioned the building in 1873 for their school for girls, and French architect Projectus Mouly directed construction until 1878. The staircase was crafted shortly after completion by an unknown carpenter.
The name Loretto comes from an Italian pilgrimage site, and the building served as a school chapel for young women. The stained glass windows were imported from France and depict scenes from the life of Mary in rich colors.
The staircase has been mostly closed to the public since the chapel became a privately run museum in the 1960s, so visitors view it from floor level rather than climbing it. The treads and the broad underside of the steps are lighter brown wood, while the handrail and turned balusters are dark. A stained-glass window with red, blue and green panes stands behind the lower section.
The staircase has 33 steps held together solely by wooden joints without nails or glue. The type of wood used to build it has not been definitively identified to this day.
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