These are boulevard stairs, led to the seaside. The Stairs were engineered by the architects Melnikov, Boffo and Potie in 1835. Little later Upton and Morozov built them (1837-1841). In the 19th century the stairs were called Richelieu Stairs, The Stairs of Nicolas Boulevard, The Gigantic Stairs, Vorontsov Stairs; in 1919-1941 - Seaside Stairs or The Stairs of Feldman Boulevard; and later - Potemkin Stairs.

These stairs are considered ones of the most famous stairs in the world. From the very beginning The Stairs had 200 (two hundred) stages, divided by 10 platforms (levels). Nowadays Potemkin Stairs have 192 stages, because of the enlargement of territory of the port. The Stairs seem to be bigger and longer, then they really are, if you look at them from below.

In the middle of the 19th century Potemkin Stairs descended directly to the sea, to the Bath (Kupalny) shore. Now The Stairs start near the Monument to Richelieu and end on the pavement of the Primorska street. 

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