For Sale: 24 Steps From the Eiffel Tower’s Spiral Staircases
It’s one of those things for sale that sounds like it would be really cool to own, but simultaneously it’s got you wondering what the heck you would actually do with it. Since similar segments of the tower stairs have sold for solid six figures in the recent past, we luckily don’t have to worry about it!
Via Atlas Obscura.
It’s a long way up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Since 1889, a combination of staircases and elevators have lifted visitors 1,000 feet off the ground, all the way to the cozy private apartment that Gustave Eiffel installed at the wrought-iron peak. A few of those original elevator cabins remain today—but some of the spiral staircases are long gone. And some of the steps are for sale.
One 24-step portion of the staircase is sitting in the yard of the Paris auction house Artcurial, leading nowhere while it waits for its turn under the hammer. This portion, which measures more than 13 feet high, was removed in the early 1980s, which also saw the addition of emergency stairs and refurbished elevators. Parts of the staircase ended up scattered in various museums and private collections across the globe.