At the top of the steps is the monument which depicts the Duc de Richelieu, a French nobleman and Odessa's first governor. This was the first monument ever erected in the city. Surrounding this is an area of boutique shops, restaurants, vendors and photographers.
The architect behindthe steps was Francesco Boffo. The steps, now 192, originally numbered 200, were opened in 1825. The reason for building the steps was that up until this point, the only access to harbour was via long winding paths and crude wooden stairs. In 1837 it was decided that the staircase should be extended and greenish-grey sandstone was used for this, making the extension visible.
The steps gained their fame from a scene in the 1925 silent film 'The Battleship Potemkin'. Set in 1905 during the revolt between the city's workers and the Tsarist regime, the film features a fictionalised scene of a mass kill of civilians on the steps. This scene shows the Tsar's soldiers dressed in white summer clothing marching down flight of steps that seems endless firing into the crowd. The scene in the film is so famous that to this day it is sometimes reported as fact instead of fiction.
Originally known as the Primorsky Steps, in 1955 they were renamed the Potemkin Steps by the Soviets to honour the anniversary of the uprising chronicled in The Battleship Potemkin. However, after Ukranian independence the Potemkin Steps were given back their original name though, unofficially, they are still known by their Soviet name.