The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico attracts around 250,000 visitors annually due to the supposed miracle of its staircase. When the chapel was completed in the 19th century, it lacked a staircase to the upper level. The nuns prayed to St. Joseph for nine days, and on the last day a carpenter arrived and built the staircase without any nails or central support. Though its construction defies conventional engineering, the identity of the carpenter remains unknown, as does the origin of the wood. The staircase has 33 steps, fueling belief it was a miracle by St. Joseph.

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 somewhere in the 19 th century. When it was ready, the nuns found that there was no staircase built to take them to the top level

4. They spent 9 days praying to St. Joseph, who was a carpenter.

5. On the last day, 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 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 1 st 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 3 rd 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