【特集】目で、耳で楽しむ世界の「階段」

View of a double helicoidal staircase which is unique in the Americas at the baroque-style building built between 1769 and 1772 which houses theCityBanamex bank and the Valparaiso Forum of the Banamex Cultural Foundation, in Mexico City, on February 2, 2022. - After the sale of the commercial bank of Citigroup was announced in Mexico, the government searches to keep valuable works of art belonging to the group in hands of the state. (c)ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP

A visitor walks down the stairs of The Marsk Tower, the new landmark for the marsh in Southern Jutland, on the day of its inauguration in Skaerbaek, Denmark, on October 9, 2021. - The lookout is 25 meters tall and was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) architects. (c)Michael Drost-Hansen / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP

Tourists go down the King of Aragon's stairway in Bonifacio on September 19, 2021 on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica. - According to its legend, the King of Aragon's Stairway, a listed historic monument of Corsica, was dug by hand in the limestone cliff in one night by the troops of the King of Aragon in 1420. In reality, the staircase was dug by Franciscan monks to access a source of drinking water, no longer in use. (c)POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP

A picture taken on June 24, 2021 in Arles, southern France shows a view of the stairs inside the twisting tower clad, designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and housing the Luma Foundation. - The Luma Foundation is located at the Parc des Ateliers, a former SNCF railway workshop turned into an "open campus for creative production, display, study and preservation". (c)Pascal GUYOT / AFP

This photograph taken on September 5, 2022 shows modern stairs installed inside the newly renovated "Bibliotheque Nationale de France" in Paris prior to its reopening. (c)STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

A picture taken on March 3, 2021 shows the small library of French Emperor Napoleon I at the Chateau de Fontainebleau (south of Paris). - France will mark on May 5, 2021, the bicentenary of the death of Napoleon I. (c)THOMAS COEX / AFP

View of the foyer at the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, where a verdict was spoken on December 15, 2021 in a trial against a Russian defendant accused of killing a Georgian man in a Berlin park. - The court sentenced the Russian man to life in prison for shooting dead a former Chechen commander in a Berlin park in 2019, a murder prosecutors say was ordered by Moscow. The Berlin court found Vadim Krasikov, alias Vadim Sokolov, guilty of gunning down 40-year-old Georgian national Tornike Kavtarashvili in broad daylight. The verdict is expected to add further strain to already frayed Russian-German ties. (c)Christophe Gateau /AFP

Tourists walk up stairs to climb the 180-metre (600-foot) fortress of Sigiriya rock, the Lion Rock, a World Heritage site known for frescoes of bare-chested women, in Sigiriya some 160 km (100 miles) north of Colombo on October 16, 2021. (c)ISHARA S. KODIKARA / AFP

View of the bell tower of the 'Church of Christ the Worker and Our Lady of Lourdes' in Estacion Atlantida, Canelones, Uruguay, about 46 kilometers east of Montevideo, on July 21, 2021. - Created between 1958 and 1960, the church is one of the most relevant works of Uruguayan Engineer Eladio Dieste (1917-2000). The construction is distinguished by its double curvature walls and ceilings made of brick and without columns or beams. (c)Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP

A man walks down the Bramante Staircase as he visits the Vatican museum on its reopening day, on February 1, 2021 in Vatican City, as the city-state eases its closure aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the new coronavirus. (c)Andreas SOLARO / AFP

Visitors gather at Dubai's Museum of the Future on October 11, 2022. (c)Karim SAHIB / AFP

Visitors gather at Dubai's Museum of the Future on October 11, 2022. (c)Karim SAHIB / AFP

An interior view of the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha during its reopening on October 4, 2022, following a year-long facilities enhancement project and the re-imagination and reinstallation of its permanent collection galleries. - The Museum of Islamic Art, an architectural tour de force designed by internationally acclaimed Pritzker Prize-winning architect I.M. Pei (1917-2019), was the first institution opened by Qatar Museums in 2008. The Museum is a beacon for Islamic arts and a platform for international dialogue and exchange bridging past and present, East and West. (c)Karim JAAFAR / AFP

People visit the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha during its reopening on October 4, 2022, following a year-long facilities enhancement project and the re-imagination and reinstallation of its permanent collection galleries. - The Museum of Islamic Art, an architectural tour de force designed by internationally acclaimed Pritzker Prize-winning architect I.M. Pei (1917-2019), was the first institution opened by Qatar Museums in 2008. The Museum is a beacon for Islamic arts and a platform for international dialogue and exchange bridging past and present, East and West. (c)PATRICK BAZ / Qatar Museums / AFP

Women remain under an umbrella at a park in Quibdo, Choco department, Colombia, on November 13, 2019.(c)Raul ARBOLEDA / AFP

A museum attendant stands on the Bramante Staircase in the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) which reopen to the public on June 1, 2020 in The Vatican. (c) ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP

A member of staff wearing PPE (personal protective equipment), including a face mask as a precautionary measure against COVID-19, poses as he cleans the handrail of Cecil Brewer staircase with disinfectant at the re-opened Heal's flagship store in central London on June 8, 2020.(c) Tolga AKMEN / AFP

A view shows the Bramante Staircase in the Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) which reopen to the public on June 1, 2020 in The Vatican. (c) ANDREAS SOLARO / AFP

A picture taken on May 25, 2020 shows a staircase inside the Jacquemart-Andre Museum in Paris on the eve of its reopening, as France eases lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus. (c)STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

A pedestrian walks up a staircase of an overpass in Beijing on November 22, 2019. (c) Noel Celis / AFP

Commuters walks up stairs adorned with artwork of a girl surrounded by morning glories at an entrance of the JR Kumagaya Station in Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture on July 15, 2019.(c)Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP

French street artist Sia poses on a work of graffiti created by French street artists Zag and Sia on June 5, 2016 in Paris. (c)JOEL SAGET / AFP

A woman walks down a set of stairs from a housing estate in Hong Kong on March 17, 2019. (c)VIVEK PRAKASH / AFP

A woman climbs stairs painted with a peace and love symbol on April 11, 2019 in Berlin's Wedding district. (c)Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP

This picture taken on March 20, 2019 shows Louis, a concierge of the Hotel Martinez posing in the spiral staircase of the palace, on the French riviera city of Cannes, southern France. (c)VALERY HACHE / AFP

A staircase of Helsinki's new Central Library Oodi is seen during a preview on November 30, 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. (c) Markku Ulander / Lehtikuva / AFP

The staircase of the Bristol Kempinski Hotel in Berlin's Charlottenburg district is pictured on November 12, 2018. (c)Paul Zinken / dpa / AFP

Visitors walk up the newly-painted 272-steps staircase leading to Malaysia's Batu Caves Hindu temple in Kuala Lumpur on August 30, 2018.(c)AFP PHOTO / Manan VATSYAYANA

Visitors look down from a set of stairs as they visit Victoria Prison, a former colonial prison and police station colloquially known as Tai Kwun, or "big station", on its opening day to the public in Hong Kong on May 29, 2018. (c)AFP PHOTO / Anthony WALLACE

A general view shows a lift system and stairwell allowing guests to move between the 13 decks aboard The Queen Elizabeth II luxury cruise liner, also known as the QE2, docked at Port Rashid in Dubai, where it will be moored permanently as a newly refurbished floating hotel on April 18, 2018. (c)AFP PHOTO / KARIM SAHIB

The picture shows the stairs of the "Casa Vicens" (House Vicens) designed by Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi taken on November 16, 2017 in Barcelona. (c)AFP/LLUIS GENE

The spiral staircase within the Elizabeth Tower, consisting of 334 steps, is pictured ahead of the planned renovation work on the Elizabeth Tower, on August 17, 2017, at the Houses of Parliament, part of the Palace of Westminster, in London. (c)AFP/Victoria Jones

A man walks down a stairs with a mosaic portraying the eyes of the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at Calvario Square in Caracas, during a 48-hour general strike called by the opposition, on July 26, 2017.(c)AFP/Federico PARRA

Visitors stand in the staircase of the restored former Prussian justice palace, that serves now as county court in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on April 22, 2013. The 110 years old building housing 20 courtrooms, 110 offices and further 100 rooms re-opened after two years of restoration. (c)AFP/DPA/JAN WOITAS

View of the ceiling at the staircase of the restored former Prussian justice palace, that serves now as county court in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on April 22, 2013. The 110 years old building housing 20 courtrooms, 110 offices and further 100 rooms re-opened after two years of restoration. (c)AFP/DPA/JAN WOITAS

Visitors stand in the staircase of the restored former Prussian justice palace, that serves now as county court in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on April 22, 2013. The 110 years old building housing 20 courtrooms, 110 offices and further 100 rooms re-opened after two years of restoration. (c)AFP/DPA/JAN WOITAS

Visitors stand in the staircase of the restored former Prussian justice palace, that serves now as county court in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on April 22, 2013. The 110 years old building housing 20 courtrooms, 110 offices and further 100 rooms re-opened after two years of restoration. (c)AFP/DPA/JAN WOITAS

A picture taken with the Hipstamatic application shows people walking down a staircase in the center of the Algerian capital, Algiers, on April 16, 2014.　(c)AFP/PATRICK BAZ

A picture taken on October 16, 2015 in Egyptian capital Cairo, shows the interior staircase in the main tower of the Baron Empain Palace, considered a unique architectural masterpiece and built by the Belgian industrialist, Baron Edouard Empain (1852-1929) who lived in Cairo and developed the East Cairo desert into the populated district known today as Heliopolis. The two-storey Cairo landmark, adorned with Hindu motives and figures, sitting on 2.5 hectares of prime real state land was completed in 1911. (c)AFP/MOHAMED EL-SHAHED

An artist makes his drawings at the stairway of the famous Albertina art museum ,featuring Austrian painter Egon Schiele ,on April 12, 2017 in Vienna, Austria.(c)AFP/JOE KLAMAR

This picture taken on May 12, 2010 shows a staircase at the Hilton hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg. The hotel will be the base camp for Netherlands' national football team during the World cup 2010 in South Africa. (c)AFP/PABALLO THEKISO

People pass by an unfinished street art graffiti by French artists Zag and Sia (unseen) of French humorist and late founder of "Les Restos du coeur" charity association Michel Colucci, aka Coluche, in Paris on December 31, 2015. (c)AFP/JOEL SAGET

A collectible 1889 original piece of the Eiffel Tower spiral staircase, from French singer and songwriter Guy Beart's private collection, are displayed outside the Drouot auction house in Paris, on March 20, 2015.　(c)AFP/THOMAS SAMSON

A hawk used to scare away nuisance bird populations such as pigeons and seagulls, flies in the staircase of the Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez during the 68th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southeastern France, on May 20, 2015. (c)AFP/LOIC VENANCE

This picture taken on August 17, 2015 in Montpellier shows a staircase and buildings under construction. (c)AFP/PASCAL GUYOT

Visitors walk down the spiral stairs designed by Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron at the Unterlinden museum of Colmar on December 11, 2015. (c)AFP/SEBASTIEN BOZON

Visitors look at the work on a monumental staircase at the building site of the Bibliothé‘·ue Nationale Universitaire (BNU) in Strasbourg, on March 20, 2013. (c)AFP/PATRICK HERTZOG

A journalist walks down a staircase for a press visit to an underground stone quarry under the Bois de Vincennes park in the southeast of Paris on August 5, 2015. The stone quarry, in use until the end of the 19th century for the exploitation of construction stones of Parisian buildings, is normally closed to the public for safety reasons. (c)AFP/HUGO MATHY

A picture taken on September 18, 2015 shows a staircase to the crypt of the castle of "Fougeret" in Queaux, near Poitiers, western France. (c)AFP/GUILLAUME SOUVANT

A partial view of the "Grand staircase" taken on May 11, 2014 inside the Opera Garnier in Paris. (c)AFP/ALAIN JOCARD

A picture taken on February 24, 2016 shows a spiral staircase in Nantes, western France. (c)AFP/LOIC VENANCE

A picture taken on February 24, 2016 shows a spiral staircase in Nantes, western France. (c)AFP/LOIC VENANCE

A picture taken on August 18, 2015 in Paris shows an employee cleaning a staircase of the youth hostel "Le Fauconnier". (c)AFP/JACQUES DEMARTHON

People walk on subway stairs turned into a musical keyboard on February 7, 2013 in Rennes, western France. For each step a musical note sounds, turning walk into melody. (c)AFP/DAMIEN MEYER

People walk on subway stairs turned into a musical keyboard on February 7, 2013 in Rennes, western France. For each step a musical note sounds, turning walk into melody.　(c)AFP/DAMIEN MEYER

People walk on subway stairs turned into a musical keyboard on February 7, 2013 in Rennes, western France. For each step a musical note sounds, turning walk into melody. (c)AFP/DAMIEN MEYER

Students of the University of the Arts in Bremen, northern Germany, look at the media installation "Wandern im Wissen" (Hiking in the Knowledge) at the staircase of the university's library on June 16, 2010. (c)AFP/DPA/INGO WAGNER

Hotel parent company Tata Group head Ratan Tata (in spotlight) poses with staff on the grand cantilever staircase under the hotel's iconic red dome as a cascade of red rose petals reopens the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel in Mumbai on August 12, 2010. (c)AFP/INDRANIL MUKHERJEE

Indian runners take part in a staircase run organised by a multinational sports brand as part of training for the forthcoming TCS World 10K run, in Bangalore on April 25, 2015. (c)AFP/Manjunath Kiran

This picture taken on March 13, 2012 shows a staircase in the Quirinale palace in Rome. The Palazzo del Quirinale (Quirinale palace) is the official residence of Italy's President and is located on the Quirinal hill, the tallest of the senven hills of Rome, was built as a summer residence by Pope Gregory XIII in 1583. (c)AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

This picture taken on March 13, 2012 shows a staircase in the Quirinale palace in Rome. The Palazzo del Quirinale (Quirinale palace) is the official residence of Italy's President and is located on the Quirinal hill, the tallest of the senven hills of Rome, was built as a summer residence by Pope Gregory XIII in 1583. (c)AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

Spectators walk on a staircase before a pre-premiere performance in the new Mariisky Theatre in Saint-Petersburg on May 1, 2013. (c)AFP/OLGA MALTSEVA

Spectators walk on a staircase before a pre-premiere performance in the new Mariisky Theatre in Saint-Petersburg on May 1, 2013. (c)AFP/OLGA MALTSEVA

A general view shows a staircase inside the newly restored National Gallery, formerly the City Hall and High Court building, in Singapore on October 15, 2015. (c)AFP/ROSLAN RAHMAN

This picture taken on June 19, 2015 in Ormoz, Slovenia, shows a staircase leading to the underground floors of Puklavec & Friends Wineries cellar. (c)AFP / Jure Makovec

Shoppers walk down a staircase at an Apple store in New York on October 20, 2014. (c)AFP/JEWEL SAMAD

Tourists walk down the stairs leading to the exit of the Vatican Museum at the Vatican on October 15, 2010. (c)AFP/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE

Partial view taken on June 10, 2005 in the Paris department store La Samaritaine. (c)AFP/PASCAL PAVANI

Models present creations by German designer Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel during the Spring/Summer 2006 Haute Couture collections, 24 January 2006 in Paris. (c)AFP/FRANCOIS GUILLOT

View taken 16 March 2006 shows the staircase of the Schlosshotel Buehlerhoehe near Baden-Baden in which the national football team of England will stay during the FIFA World Cup running from 09 June to 09 July 2006. (c)AFP/MICHAEL LATZ

Japanese architect Shigeru Ban walks on his "paper bridge" made of cardboard, 27 July 2007, near the Pont du Gard, in Vers-Pont-du-Gard, southern France. (c)AFP/MICHEL GANGNE

View taken on March 17, 2009, in Cannes, on the French Riviera, shows a staircase in the Martinez hotel, two months prior to the start of 62nd edition of the Cannes film festival. (c)AFP/VALERY HACHE

A European flag is lighting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 14 November 2006. (c)AFP/GERARD CERLES

People ride escalators at a shopping mall in Hong Kong on November 10, 2008. (c)AFP/MIKE CLARKE

Foreign tourists looks at stone carvings at the Adalaj Step Well at Adalaj village, some 30 kms. from Ahmedabad on November 18, 2008. (c)AFP/SAM PANTHAKY

US and Iraqi soldiers are seen at ancient Ur during a handing over ceremony between the US military and Iraqi offcials in southern central Iraq on May 13, 2009. (c)AFP/ESSAM-AL-SUDANI

Tourists walk past the five thousand miniature clay sculptures displayed on the staircase of 'Santa Maria in Aracoeli' Basilica in Rome, 03 January 2006. The sculptures personifying the children of the five continents were put on display to mark the 20th anniversary of 'The spirit of Assisi', a phrase coined by the late Pope John Paul II. (c)AFP/ALBERTO PIZZOLI

Photo taken on March 23, 2006 at Penmarch of the spiral staircase of the lighthouse Eckmühl. (c)AFP/FRED TANNEAU

Photo taken July 8, 2008 in the steps of the Cordouan lighthouse, located at the entrance to the estuary of the Gironde. (c)AFP/PIERRE ANDRIEU

Picture of a staircase and stained-glass window of the Argentino Hotel, the landmark construction of the seaside resort of Piriapolis, in the Uruguayan department of Maldonado, 100 km east of Montevideo and just 35 km west of Punta del Este, taken on May 2, 2009. The 1930 French style architectural work was built along the waterfront promenade by alchemist entrepreneur Francisco Piria, who founded the city in 1893. (c)AFP/MIGUEL ROJO

Picture of a staircase and stained-glass windows of the Argentino Hotel, the landmark construction of the seaside resort of Piriapolis, in the Uruguayan department of Maldonado, 100 km east of Montevideo and just 35 km west of Punta del Este, taken on May 2, 2009. The 1930 French style architectural work was built along the waterfront promenade by alchemist entrepreneur Francisco Piria, who founded the city in 1893. (c)AFP/MIGUEL ROJO

View of a "piano staircase", which plays musical notes when stepped on, at a department store in Pudong, Shanghai, China, 14 February 2016.People walked on "piano stairs" at a department store in the Pudong New Area, Shanghai. Managers hope the installation of the 64-step staircase, which plays musical notes when stepped on, will encourage shoppers to take the stairs instead of riding the elevators. Provided by Imaginechina. (c)Imaginechina

Lloyds Bank in London. Provided by Aurimages. (c)Aurimages/PHILIPPE ROY

Photo taken in 1930 of the stairs leading to the Belvedere in the garden of the Villa Medici in Rome.　(c)AFP

A woman photographs St Paul's Cathedral from the top of an installation entitled 'Endless Stair' designed by de Rijke Marsh Morgan Architects (dRMM) near the Tate Modern gallery in central London on September 13, 2013. Inspired by MC Escher's famous surreal drawings of never-ending staircases, it was created to mark the launch of the London Design Festival which runs from 14th - 22nd September. (c)AFP/CARL COURT

A member of the Royal Academy staff walks on British artist Jim Lambie's installation "Zobop" during the press preview of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition on June 3, 2015.　(c)AFP/LEON NEAL

A lone hiker climbs stairs leading to a watchtower at a remote section of the Great Wall at Badaling, north of Beijing on September 24, 2010.　(c)AFP/FREDERIC J. BROWN

Chinese travelers prepare to board trains to head home few days before the Lunar New Year at the Beijing Train Station on February 4, 2015. (c)AFP/FRED DUFOUR

Photo taken April 24, 2004 the lobby of the new José-Cabanis media library in Toulouse, inaugurated on May 4, 2004. Designed by architect Jean-Pierre Buffy. (c)AFP/ERIC CABANIS

A picture taken on June 16, 2013 in Reims, northeastern France, shows the stairs leading to the cellars of Veuve Clicquot champagne. Veuve Clicquot is a branch of France-based luxury goods company LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy). Each step has a vintage year. (c)AFP/FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI

The famous spiral staircase that allowed Gustave Eiffel planted atop the Eiffel Tower. (c)AFP

Visitors climb stairs of the Eiffel Tower on April 11, 2012 in Paris after an elevator broke down. (c)AFP/KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

A car is pictured on April 24, 2012, as it accidentally drove to the stairs of the subway station Chaussee d'Antin La Fayette, in Paris. (c)AFP/BERTRAND GUAY

A general view shows people walk down the stairs beneath the trick fountain of the mountain park Bergpark Wilhelmshoehe in Kassel, western Germany on June 6, 2013. On 23 June 2013 the Mountainpark and its 8m tall Hercules landmark statue were proclaimed UNESCO world heritage sites. (c)AFP/DPA/UWE ZUCCHI

A pedestrian climbs stairs covered with snow in Berlin's Tiergarten district December 29, 2014. (c)AFP/TOBIAS SCHWARZ

People walk up the stairs in front of Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam near Berlin on December 26, 2014. (c)AFP/DPA/RALF HIRSCHBERGER

People gather on the banks of the River Ganges as Hindu devotees (bottom) perform a morning puja, or prayer ritual, on the waterfront at Varanasi on September 18, 2015. The river is considered holy in Hindu-majority India and millions of people visit it each year to bathe in its water. (c)AFP/Alex Ogle

A priest walks on the stairs of Italian architect Renzo Piano's huge church dedicated to Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy, 30 June 2004.　(c)AFP/ANDREAS SOLARO

A picture shows the ceiling of the Toledo metro station on January 10, 2016 in Naples. (c)AFP/GABRIEL BOUYS

Students walk down stairs decorated with past Olympic dates in Hong Kong on June 13, 2012.　(c)AFP/LAURENT FIEVET

A picture taken on April 16, 2015 shows a worker standing on the stairs of a natural gas reservoir at the port of Sabetta in the Kara Sea shore line on the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic circle, some 2450 km of Moscow. (c)AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV

Imperial Stormtroopers from the Star Wars film franchise travel down an escalator during a promotional event at the Changi International airport in Singapore on November 12, 2015. (c)AFP/ROSLAN RAHMAN

People walk at a snowy stairs of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen hill ahead the qualification jump of the second session of the Four-Hills Ski jumping tournament (Vierschanzentournee) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany on December 31, 2014. (c)AFP/CHRISTOF STACHE

A Turkish woman takes pictures of rainbow-colored stairs on August 31, 2013 in Istanbul. Stairs in the Cihangir and Findikli neighborhoods, which attracted attention after being painted in rainbow colors by a local man on August 27, were all painted grey on the night of August. 29, and following comments on social media, the municipality of Beyoglu immediately painted them again in rainbow colors. (c)AFP/OZAN KOSE

A woman poses on rainbow-colored stairs in Istanbul on November 19, 2013. (c)AFP/OZAN KOSE

This picture taken on March 1, 2014 shows a view of the interior of the main house of the residence of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Mezhygirya not far from Kiev. (c)AFP/YURIY DYACHYSHYN

A man walks down a staircase in a shopping mall in Shenzhen, 13 August 2001.　(c)AFP/PETER PARKS

People sit on the steps of the Arch of the business district of La Defense, outside Paris, on June 12, 2009. (c)AFP / LOIC VENANCE

Indian men walk down the steps of the historic Chand Baori stepwell in Abhaneri village of western Rajasthan state on September 24, 2015. For a few hours on one day each year, local residents are permitted to descend into the 100-foot-deep, 1,200-year-old stepwell, as Hindu devotees in the area mark a local festival known as 'Jel Juline Aka Desi' in honour of the Hindu God Krishna, at the same time as Hindus worldwide observe Ganesh Chaturthi festivities. Chand Baori is one of the oldest and largest stepwells in the world, with some 3,500 steps laid out in a geometric design down to the water at its base. (c)AFP/Alex Ogle

A replica of the grand staircase from the sunken Titanic is on exhibition at the Marina Bay Sands ArtScience Museum in Singapore on April 2, 2012. (c)AFP/ROSLAN RAHMAN