Silver coin Cathedral of St. Elizabeth - Double spiral staircase SK proof
Silver coin Cathedral of St. Elizabeth - Double spiral staircase SK proof
The product can also be purchased directly in the stores of the Czech Mint
Cathedral of St. Elizabeth
The final silver coin of the Czech Mint's four-part miniseries, which pays tribute to the Cathedral in Košice, features a double spiral staircase.
The Gothic staircase itself is not a great rarity. A spiral staircase is also not uncommon. However, a Gothic spiral staircase is an architectural rarity - all the more so because it is doubled. The first such staircase was built in Košice - in the Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. The right- and left-hand staircases wind around each other and intersect five times. While the western arm leads up to the attic of the cathedral, the eastern one leads up to the emporium - a gallery with a view, where kings used to sit when attending mass and where the relic of Christ's blood was displayed, to which crowds of pilgrims streamed down the stairs. The stairs are called the "royal" stairs, but they have other names. They are known as the "staircase of lovers" because of the romantic tradition where each of the two lovers begin the ascent on their own staircase, but eventually meet anyway. Another name is the "stairs of purification" - according to legend, a person who ascends the left staircase is cleansed of his sins, but must descend down the right staircase to prevent evil deeds from sticking to him again…
Medal maker Lenka Nebeská, DiS., dedicated the reverse side of the coin to a view of the southern part of the dome, where there is a staircase decorated with a series of pointed arches. The composition of the reverse side is supplemented with the Slovak inscription ZDVOJENÉ TOČITÉ SCHODISKO. As this is a coin issued with a foreign license of the island of Niue, the obverse side bears the necessary attributes of this issuer - the name and portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the nominal value of 1 DOLLAR and the year of issue 2022. All this is supplemented with gothic ornaments.
Coins with the motifs of St. Elizabeth's Cathedral can be stored in a collector's etui that can also be found in the offer of the Czech Mint.