The Most Terrifying Spiral Staircases on Earth

Photo:
Glasgow lighthouse
Image: Craig Morey

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:
Photo:
Image: Ray Tomes

Like a slightly heart-shaped vortex - don’t get sucked in:
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Image: Darnyi Zsóka

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

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:
Photo:
Image via cedarcreektreehouse

… and from up top:
Photo:
Image via cedarcreektreehouse

Almost there – the observatory:
Photo:
Image via cedarcreektreehouse

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:
Photo:
Image: Greg Gladman

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

Looking up at the lighthouse in Brunate, Italy:
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Image: Antonis Lamnatos

Santa Barbara lighthouse with see-through staircase:
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Image: Cathy Stanley-Erickson

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:
Photo:
Image: Till Krech

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:
Photo:
Image: Paul Keleher

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:
Photo:
Image via atlasobscura

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:
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Image: lemoncat1

This staircase used to take tourists up – no longer because of security reasons:
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Image: lemoncat1

Climbing up to the crown:
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Image: Katy Warner

Iraq’s Malwiya Tower:
Photo:
Image: Jim Gordon

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:
Photo:
Image: Izzedine

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…
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Image: wendy

… or option 2, the elevator:
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Image: Reckless

…before you know it, you look down at something like this:
Photo:
Image: Travis Miller

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.”

Photo:
Image: Gary Denham

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.

Sources: 1, 2

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