The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico is famous for its "miraculous staircase" built in 1898. When the chapel was completed, there was no way to access the choir loft 22 feet high. After 9 days of prayer, a mysterious carpenter arrived and built the staircase without any blueprints, using no nails or glue. The spiral staircase has two complete 360 degree turns within the small space but has no central support. The carpenter then disappeared without accepting payment. There are three mysteries surrounding the staircase - the identity of the carpenter, how it is structurally supported, and where the unusual wood came from.

1. City of Santa Fé, in New Mexico,
USA.
A mystery of over 130 years and
attracting around 250 thousand
visitors every year. Point of
attention : Loretto Chapel

2. What makes this chapel different
from all others is that the subject of
the supposed miracle that took place
in it is a Staircase

3. A chapel was constructed in 1898.
When it was ready, the nuns found
that there was no staircase built to
take them to the choir loft 22 feet
above.

4. Capenters called in for advice
said there was no way to build a
staircase in the small place.
The nuns spent 9 days praying
to St. Joseph, who was a
carpenter, for a solution.

5. On the 9th day of the novena, a
stranger knocked at their door and
said that he was a carpenter who
could help them build the staircase.

6. He constructed the
staircase, all by himself,
which was considered to
be the pride of
carpentery.

7. None knew how the staircase
could stand by itself as it had two
360 degree turns and did not
have a central support

8. Then the carpenter, who did not use
a single nail or glue to construct this
staircase, disappeared without even
waiting for his payment.

9. There was a rumour in the city of
Santa Fé, that the carpenter was
St. Joseph himself ...

10. ...sent by Jesus Christ to attend
to the nuns’ problem. Since then,
the staircase was known to be
called “miraculous” and turned
out to be the site for pilgrimage.

11. There are 3 mysteries in this
case, says the spokesman of the
chapel : the 1st
mystery is that,
until today, the identity of this
man is not known.

12. The second mystery – all the
architects, engineers and
scientists say that they cannot
understand how this staircase
can balance without any
central support.

13. And the 3rd
mystery – from where
did the wood come? They have
checked and found out that the type
of wood used to build the staircase
does not exist in the entire region

14. There is another detail that has
just increased the belief in the
supposed miracle : The staircase
has 33 steps, the age of Jesus
Christ.
M. Gallo