Seven Stairs

First Appearance and Context

The Seven Stairs are introduced as a covered gallery, crowded with Avout, providing an approach from the Tenner math up to the stone patio before the portal of the Mynster. During the opening observance of Apert, the water‑charged aqueduct is seen running alongside the Seven Stairs, skirting the Cloister on its way toward the river.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Internal circulation: Serves as a primary route linking the Tenner community’s precincts to the Mynster, commonly used by Avout heading to assemblies such as Provener.
• Waterworks adjacency: Lies beside the aqueduct that, during Apert, carries water toward the mechanisms that actuate the long‑interval gates.
• Community context: Functionally connects the Tenners’ area of the concent (see Decenarian Math) to the patio before the Mynster’s portal.

Relationships

• Adjoins the covered walkways around the Cloister, forming part of the sheltered paths between workrooms, libraries, and the Mynster.
• Acts as the stepped approach from the Tenner side toward the Mynster’s main entrance area.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Structure: Seven linked staircases joined by landings under a roof, forming a single continuous ascent.
• Setting and use: Slightly uphill from the meadow and designed to accommodate heavy foot traffic; the covered design offers shelter in all weather as people move toward the Mynster.

Current Status/Location

Active and in regular use within the concent. Most recently observed during Apert, when the aqueduct ran along beside it and crowds used it as the main approach to the Mynster.