There is quite an amazing story about this spiral staircase that is 150 years old.

I will tell you the story and show you some pictures and a video.

I have a series of closeup pictures of the stairway on this page right here.

I also have pictures of the stained glass windows in this chapel.

Constructed in 1873, the Loretto Chapel was commissioned by the Sisters of Loretto as a private chapel for their school for girls. Patterned after Saite-Chappelle in Paris, the chapel is believed to be the first gothic structure west of the Mississippi and would have stood out among the one-story adobe structures of the time.

As the chapel was nearing completion, the sisters were left with no plans for access to the choir loft twenty feet above. Unable to find a solution, the sisters prayed a nine day novena to their patron, Saint Joseph (Who also happens to be the patron saint of carpenters).

As legend has it, on the final day of their novena, a carpenter appeared carrying only a carpenter's square, a saw, and a hammer.
He provided his own wood of unknown origin and used tubs of hot water in which to soak and shape it.

Upon completion of the stairway, the carpenter disappeared without payment or any account owing for supplies.

The "Miraculous Stairway" is made entirely of the carpenter's wood (the subspecies of which is not found anywhere else on earth), has two 360 turns, has no center support, and rests entirely on it's final tread. It has 33 steps, and was originally built without a railing.

While we still do not know who built it, how it stands, nor where the wood came from,
the stairway in the Loretto Chapel, stands as a testament to faith, creativity, ingenuity, and the power of prayer.

(This is the Miraculous Stairway)

The front of the Loretto Chapel.

The side of the Loretto Chapel.

Inside the chapel

The altar and retablo

I have a series of closeup pictures of the stairway on this page right here.