We study the space $X_h$ of Hermitian matrices having staircase form and the given simple spectrum. There is a natural action of a compact torus on this space. Using generalized Toda flow, we show that $X_h$ is a smooth manifold and its smooth type is independent of the spectrum. Morse theory is then used to show the vanishing of odd degree cohomology, so that $X_h$ is an equivariantly formal manifold. The equivariant and ordinary cohomology of $X_h$ are described using GKM-theory. The main goal of this paper is to show the connection between the manifolds $X_h$ and the semisimple Hessenberg varieties well-known in algebraic geometry. Both the spaces $X_h$ and Hessenberg varieties form wonderful families of submanifolds in the complete flag variety. There is a certain symmetry between these families which can be generalized to other submanifolds of the flag variety.