What is the above the door storage thingie?

Long time no see.. So i have this above my from door passageway in a sense. Its basically a ceiling lower than the regular ceiling that is about 6 feet long and 1 1/2 feet high. (pictures will soon follow). What the heck am i supposed to do with that? If i leave it empty, its boring and catches dust. If i fill it up with boxes and store things, I need to cover it with a handmade door of somekind, then it takes up a lot of space and makes my hallway look smaller. In any event, I dont know what to do with it and I don't know what it was once used for or who designed this weird over the doorway storage unit thing. But then again, my apartment is vintage (50 years old) and who knows what it could have once been used for...