Scale a Stairway of Lights and Blossoms in Sicily

Ah, l'Europe. Land of architectural charm and grandeur, where a staircase is never just a staircase but a work of art in itself. Surely providing one of the most gorgeous ways to scale an incline ever, Sicily's Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte in the city of Caltagirone comes alive every year with beautiful designs entirely composed of potted flowers and lights.

It's a simple and elegant method of transforming a public space into a natural and versatile artistic canvas, drawing both natives and tourists together to celebrate local heritage. During the La Scala Flower Festival and the Scala Illuminata, the Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte's 142 steps, dating back to 1608, host a series of intricate floral and candle arrangements that take advantage of the steep slope to present vast perspectival images of patron saints and traditional patterns of the region. People can flock to see the designs flicker by night during the light festivals and walk up and down admiring the foliage by day during the flower festivals.

Made up of thousands of decorated tiles — one of the signature products of Caltagirone, which is famous for its ceramics and terracotta industry — the Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte is already a landmark. The addition of some 2000 plants (geranium, boxwood and marigolds) took its appeal to the next level this year during the flower festival in honour of Our Lady of Conadomini, patron saint of the city, which ran from 8 May to 3 June. You can scope out more of the inventive and colourful designs here. It's certainly hard to imagine noticing any muscle fatigue in your glutes when you're distracted by so much colour.

These inspiring pictures beg the question: which spots in Australian cities are ripe for this kind of ornamentation? We reckon it's time to take a cue from sophisticated Sicily and import the flower stair concept on a grand scale.

Via This is Colossal.