This Gothic church, modeled after Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, was built for the Sisters of Loretto between 1873 and 1878. It would have been just another beautiful old church in this religious city if not for what happened near the end its construction. Workers realized there wasn't space to access the choir loft, 22 ft. high, by a normal staircase—a ladder was the only thing that would fit. The nuns prayed for nine days to St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, for a better solution. On the ninth day, as the story goes, a mysterious stranger arrived on a donkey with a toolbox, looking for work. Using only a saw, a square, and water to season the wood, he built an elegant spiral staircase over the next few months, then disappeared before they could pay him. Was it St. Joseph himself? Who knows, but the staircase is a marvel of engineering and aesthetics, with two full 360-degree turns and no visible means of support. Even more amazing, it was built using wooden pegs, not nails. Today, the deconsecrated chapel is run as a private museum with a small gift shop. It's a quick visit here, half an hour tops.