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Denis Papin staircase in Blois, France







The Denis Papin stone staircase in the city of Blois in the Loire Valley in France commemorates the French physicist, mathematician, and inventor. 

Denis Papin (1647-1713) experimented with steam, and invented the steam digester – the forerunner of the pressure cooker. 

The Denis Papin staircase has 120 steps, with four landings. At the top landing is Aimé Millet’s sculptured statue of Denis Papin, erected in 1880. 

Since 2013, the staircase has been decorated in artwork depicting current events around Blois. A theme is usually announced each year. In 2019, the Mona Lisa was painted on the staircase to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death. 

In September 2021, the Denis Papin staircase was painted to look like a bookshelf full of books by JK Rowling, Stephen King, George Orwell, Molière, Jules Verne, Lewis Carroll, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Guy de Maupassant, Emile Zola, Patrick Suskind, Marjane Satrapi, Masashi Kishimoto, Haruki Murakami, Jakuta Alikavazovic, and more.

























MARTINA NICOLLS

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MARTINA NICOLLS  is an international aid and development consultant, and the author  of: The Paris Residences of James Joyce  (2020), Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 17, 2023 at 6:53 PM

    Thanks for such a great post and the review, I am totally impressed! Keep stuff like this coming. "Staircases"

    ReplyDelete

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