Beautiful medieval Cathedral in ancient spanish city Salamanca, famous for one of the first universities of old Europe.
This is a magnificent example (as art historians write) of sacred architecture of the 12th century, for its construction began in 1102. Of course, it’s too early for Gothic, but historians always have an excuse ready - supposedly gothic cathedrals were built for several centuries in a row, and in this case, too, the delivery of the object was timed exactly... However, this does not matter, just as the time of the appearance of Baroque style decor (actually 1714-1724) on the facade is also unimportant. The cathedral still dates back to the 12th century and tourists look at the ancient structure with awe and awe.
And everything would be fine, but something is not good, as Arkady Gaidar used to say. Modern digital photo optics has made it possible to distinguish small details of magnificent architectural decoration on high altitude, previously inaccessible to tourist cameras. As a result, historians and museum workers are forced to be nervous and answer simple-minded questions from perplexed tourists.
The worst thing is that the experts do not coordinate their answers with each other. And it becomes noticeable that they are all... lying, trying to improvise on the fly.
Since the figure of the astronaut was first noticed in 1995, Sergio Arrell, deputy director of the cathedral museum, said that in 1990, the sculptor-restorer Miguel Romero allowed himself a little artistic prank. This is the most radical answer, other respondents do not dare to go that far, because the next question to Signor Arella will be “how many little pranks are committed by the “sculptor-restorers” and how much creative freedom is granted during the “restoration”?” This is an extremely painful issue, since all architectural ensemble the center of Salamanca, including, of course, the cathedral, back in 1985, several years before the start of restoration, it was taken under the protection of UNESCO as a universal heritage, that is, recognized as one of the absolute masterpieces. All documents for the restoration of monuments of this level undergo many approvals, including international examination. Therefore, it is simply impossible to simply add medieval figures of an astronaut or anyone else to the garland.
Realizing that such slippery questions cannot be avoided, the vicar of the cathedral, Rodrigo Solanelles, takes a diametrically opposite position: “The decoration of any Catholic church is built in strict accordance with the church canon developed in the early Middle Ages. There simply cannot be any “pranks” by individual artists - the diocese will never approve a heretical element of decor.” In other words, on the side gates of the cathedral there is neither an astronaut nor a cheerful lion with a waffle cup of Italian ice cream, and anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken. According to the priest, these are monsters common to the Middle Ages, of which there are countless numbers outside on Catholic churches. They, they say, symbolize the fiends of hell, which a person can encounter outside the temple, but there is no way for them inside the cathedral. This is a common excuse by historians, ignoring, among other things, the fact that obscene monsters can often be seen inside Catholic churches, for example, on the capitals of columns.
The vicar could be forgiven for looking like a complete idiot; after all, he is a religious man. It’s harder for gentlemen who are hung with scientific titles and perform the duties of scientists. Esteban Sanza, a philosophy teacher at the University of Salamanca, is deeply convinced that the figure was made no later than the 18th century, when the new building of the cathedral was being completed. This confidence of his has a strictly scientific basis: in the university library, Mr. Sansa’s students found an engraving from the early 19th century with a photographically accurate depiction of the entire sculptural decoration of the cathedral. “Astronaut” occupies the same place in this engraving as it does today. And in Renaissance manuscripts there are several references to encounters between Salamanca monks and strange creatures whose “skin is hidden under the outer skin.” I believe that Signor Sansa did not utter the phrase about “Renaissance manuscripts”, that a certain outside well-wisher supplemented his information about the engraving with a message about strange meetings of Salamanca monks, for a philosophy teacher at the University of Salamanca cannot but know that medieval monks did not walk naked, but were are familiar with the concept of “clothing” and even, most likely, with the concept of “armor”, and therefore they are unlikely to describe the strange clothes of strange creatures as “skin hidden under the outer skin.”
But why was it the “students” who found the engraving, and not Professor Sansa himself or one of the scientists? The answer is simple: if the engraving (which, by the way, has only been seen by Mr. Professor so far, and has not been shown to the public) exceeds expectations and has to be submitted for antique examination and it turns out that it is a modern fake, Signor Sansa will be able to throw up his hands in sadness: well, they played a prank me students! And scientific reputation will not suffer. Because what is the demand from students?
So what does this whole dream mean? To understand the essence of the matter, you should pay attention to several facts from the history of the cathedral:
1. In 1809 - the invasion of Napoleon's troops, who perceived (quite rightly) massive Catholic churches as fortifications and sought to destroy these fortresses - the cathedral was also among the damaged churches.
2. And in the 30s, the cathedral was completely dismantled, allegedly planning to move it to another place in order to save it from flooding (the motivations here are very unclear).
However, in 1843 (the peak of “historicism” throughout Europe) the cathedral was already standing, as if nothing had happened, in 1887 it was declared a national monument, since 1902 there has been a stream of continuous restorations, and in 1956 a museum was finally opened cathedral
Interestingly, a photograph from 1995 shows the astronaut with a completely intact face, but in photographs taken two years later, his face is seriously damaged by the inexorable passage of time. Apparently, the museum's management (or vicar), after a random tourist noticed the absurdity, hastened in a panic to destroy the annoying anachronism, but realized that the photos had already spread around the world, and prompt destruction of evidence of falsification would not help. The destruction of questionable artifacts by scientists has become a common practice today.
In other words: the cathedral is beautiful, but has nothing to do with the cathedral of 1102. This is a modern craft, indicating that to this day the Spanish land has not become depleted of talented craftsmen with an excellent sense of humor and inflated idiot scholastics with academic degrees who are ready to hysterically deny the obvious.
The first thing that comes to mind is photoshop, but no, the astronaut is real. The figurine is a long-known artifact in the world. It is located in the Spanish city of Salamanca - it adorns one of the cathedrals. True, not the one that was built in 1102 - the so-called old cathedral(Catedral Vieja), and the later one is New (Catedral Nueva), built between 1513 and 1733. The difference of almost 500 years, it must be said, is not fundamental. And at that time there were no astronauts. And yet it is on the wall of the cathedral. And even in boots with grooved soles...
The sensation occurred after modern photo optics made it possible to distinguish small details of magnificent architectural decoration at high altitudes, previously inaccessible to tourist cameras.
It was then that the tourists spotted, among the mythical creatures on the bas-relief, someone who definitely couldn’t be there. As a result, historians and museum workers are forced to be nervous and answer simple-minded questions from perplexed tourists. The worst thing is that experts cannot develop a single version of what happened and do not coordinate their answers with each other.
The figure of the astronaut was first noticed in 1995. Sergio Arrell, deputy director of the cathedral museum, said that in 1990, sculptor-restorer Miguel Romero allowed himself a little “artistic prank.”
THE RIDDLE OF THE MEDIEVAL ASTRONAUT
01/05/2017
Astronaut! On the wall of the ancient Spanish Cathedral of St. Jerome, built in 1102! Such notes with corresponding photographs have been discussed by the blogosphere for more than 10 years.
This was the most radical answer - other respondents are hesitant to go that far. Because the next question to Signor Arella will be “how many little pranks are committed by the “sculptor-restorers” and how much creative freedom is given during the “restoration”?” This is an extremely painful issue, since the entire architectural ensemble of the center of Salamanca, including, of course, the cathedral, back in 1985, several years before the start of restoration, was taken under the protection of UNESCO as a universal heritage, that is, recognized as one of the absolute masterpieces. All documents for the restoration of monuments of this level undergo many approvals, including international examination. Therefore, it is simply impossible to simply add medieval figures of an astronaut or anyone else to the garland.
Realizing that such slippery questions cannot be avoided, the vicar of the cathedral, Rodrigo Solanelles, takes a diametrically opposite position:
“The decoration of any Catholic church is built in strict accordance with the church canon developed in the early Middle Ages. There simply cannot be any “pranks” by individual artists - the diocese will never approve a heretical element of decor.”
In other words, there is no astronaut on the side gates of the cathedral, and anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken. According to the priest, these are monsters common to the Middle Ages, of which there are countless numbers outside on Catholic churches. They, they say, symbolize the fiends of hell, which a person can encounter outside the temple, but there is no way for them inside the cathedral.
However, the vicar’s statements are not the strangest thing in this story. Esteban Sanza, a philosophy teacher at the University of Salamanca, is convinced that the figure was made no later than the 18th century, when the new building of the cathedral was being completed. He claims that the astronaut is in a 19th century engraving. But the engraving was not presented to the public.
By the way, a photograph from 1995 shows an astronaut with a completely intact face, and in photographs taken two years later, his face is seriously damaged by the inexorable passage of time.
Perhaps it is these contradictions that fuel interest in a story that is not so mysterious. After all, in principle, the placement of certain symbols characterizing the era during which the restoration is carried out is a very common practice. The only funny thing is that the sculptor simply chose a space theme.
This gargoyle is located on one of the abbeys in Scotland. What is this? "Aliens" visited our planet? Or maybe this is how medieval sculptors depicted aliens?
Now we find out...
The Gargoyle is located approximately here:
Photo by REX/Michael McGurk
However, the reason for its appearance is completely prosaic.
In the 90s, all gargoyle statues were removed from the walls of the Scottish Paisley Abbey, located near Glasgow, for the purpose of restoration. Some figures were restored, while others simply had to be made anew. One of the restorers did his best by making a statue of an alien from the movie “Alien.”
There was another one like this misterious story with an image of an astronaut or an alien on an ancient cathedral, a few years ago circulated on the Internet:
This mystery is connected with a relief image of an astronaut on the wall of a cathedral in Spain. Cathedral of St. Jerome was built in 1102 AD. Bishop of Salamanca. Is this really an image of a man from the future? Or is this evidence of technologies that existed back in 1100?!
In fact, neither one nor the other. In 1992, the cathedral was restored and additional modern motifs were introduced. The reason for the appearance of these motifs was the tradition of temple builders and restorers, which consisted in freely incorporating modern motifs into old decorations. This method of restoring ancient buildings can, of course, be regarded as a signature of one’s work. Architect Hieronimo Garcia chose the astronaut as a symbol of the twentieth century.
However, in essence this is a distortion of an ancient monument, the introduction of alien content, which is called the modernization of the past. Such embellishment was widely used in antiquity and the Middle Ages, but, as we see, has not died out to this day. It concerns not only buildings and other material monuments, but also texts, paintings, films, etc. For example, sites on the Internet presented this fake at face value.
In general, there are also gargoyles like this:
A gargoyle is a grotesque figure carved from stone that was created to drain water from the roofs and side facades of large buildings.
Gargoyles are strange, creepy, unpleasant, and sometimes downright disgusting. They have been hanging over many streets and cities for centuries, silently watching the people swarming below. They maintain their silent post for so long that many of us do not even suspect that gargoyles have a meaning. Let's take a look at these stone monsters with a mysterious purpose.
2. We usually associate them with medieval times (thanks to a certain hunchback), but they appeared much earlier. These aren't just scary statues. Many gargoyles are shaped like certain animals, and this is no coincidence.
The lion and lioness were favorite images of the creators of gargoyles. For example, at Dornoch Cathedral in Scotland there is this cute lioness grinning at passers-by below. The lion was one of the most popular non-European animals, used in the Middle Ages to decorate churches and cathedrals. They later became popular in the form of gargoyles (there are many of them in Pompeii) and they symbolized the sun - their golden mane representing the solar crown of our lives.
4. However, in the Middle Ages, cathedral builders used the lion as a symbol of pride, which, of course, was one of the seven deadly sins, and therefore should be avoided. This lion, for example, looks quite proud. It is located at one of the colleges in France. Apart from lions, practically no other cat species were used when creating gargoyles. Cats were a symbol of witchcraft and were therefore avoided.
5. Dog. This gargoyle is located on the tower of Philip IV the Fair in the palace in Dijon, again, in France.
Dogs have always been very popular, and they are rarely seen only as pets. They guarded houses at night, so they were considered smart and loyal. On the one hand, it can be assumed that, as gargoyles, the dog statues were supposed to guard the buildings, but their presence on the roofs is due to another reason. Dogs are always hungry, and they often stole food from people, so in those days their figures were often placed on cathedrals and churches so that everyone could see that even such a devoted animal as a dog can succumb to the temptations of the devil and become a victim of greed.
6. Wolf.
Although wolves were also considered greedy, they were treated with some respect, because... these animals have always worked together. It was then that the expression “leader of the pack” was born. Wolves were also associated with priests who were supposed to protect people from the devil - thus, the wolf even managed to be the protector of the lambs of God. Gargoyles on the roofs also often gathered in a “flock”, because... the architects wanted to divert rainwater in different directions. During a rainstorm, one gargoyle would not be enough. The gargoyles were made elongated so that the water flowed as far as possible from the wall.
7. Eagle. Gargoyle in the form of an eagle at the Cathedral of St. Rumbold in Mechelen, Belgium.
Eagles were protectors of buildings, in particular from dragons, because, as medieval people believed, eagles were the only creatures capable of defeating the winged serpent. They were said to be able to heal themselves by looking directly at the sun, which had long been the personification of deity.
8. Serpent. This serpent on a building in Krakow, Poland, warns people about the sins of the flesh.
The snake is associated with original sin, and therefore this stone beast can be found in almost all cathedrals of Europe. Since the time of Adam and Eve, the serpent has been a symbol of the constant struggle between good and evil. Among the seven deadly sins, the snake represents envy. They were also considered immortal, which meant that the fight against sins would continue forever.
9. Ram or goat. This gargoyle is located on the Barcelona Cathedral.
Like most of the animals presented here, the goat also had a dual nature in the eyes of medieval Christians. On the one hand, they were considered divine, because they knew how to find food even among steep rocks and survive in the most difficult situations. On the other hand, they were considered evil creatures and a symbol of lust - another of the seven deadly sins. And of course, what animal is usually associated with Satan?
10. Monkey.
Our immediate family has always been looked at as what will happen to us if something in nature goes wrong. However, they were often considered stupid and lazy. That is why they personified another mortal sin - laziness. This gargoyle in the form of a monkey is located in Paris, which is not surprising, because the word “gargoyle” itself originated in the French language. Once upon a time, the word "Gargouille" meant the word "throat", and the word itself comes from Latin.
11. Other languages were more precise. In Italian, a gargoyle is called "grónda sporgente", literally meaning "protruding groove". IN German they are called “Wasserspeier” - “water spitters”, and the Dutch went even further and nicknamed gargoyles “waterspuwer” - “water spitters”.
12. And, by the way, from this Dutch word “waterspuwer” in English language the verb “to spew” came. However, if you do not take into account the “animal” personifications of gargoyles, then all of them were often considered chimeras.
13. This chimera is located at York Cathedral in England, which is generally famous for these very chimeras.
And although we are no longer afraid of these chimeras, the medieval inhabitants were quite superstitious and uneducated, and they considered them terrible creatures. A chimera is born when two parts of different bodies merge to create an entirely new creature, such as a griffin (or a mermaid, the figure of which is still popular in creating fountains).
14. At the Duomo of Milan there is a rather interesting set of chimeras - there are Renaissance thinkers standing next to these strange creatures from the imagination of madmen. These chimeras on the roofs of cathedrals and other buildings represented those who underestimated the power of the devil. Although the devil cannot create life, he can mix different shapes life to get a new one - that is, a chimera.
15. Some of the most famous gargoyles in the world can be found at Notre Dame Cathedral.
16. Even the Disney studio could not ignore these interesting creatures.
17. The Legend of the Gargoyle. The French had a legend about one of their saints - Romaine. In the 17th century, he was made a bishop and had to fight a creature called the Gargoyle. It was a dragon-like creature with wings, a long neck, and the ability to spew fire from its mouth.
18. Having conquered the dragon, Romain could not destroy its head, because... she was tempered by the fire from her own mouth. Then Romain placed it on the walls of the cathedral so that it would scare away evil forces. Well, this gargoyle in the photo is located in the Cathedral Basilica of Van Saint-Yan.
19. On the walls of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague there are several rather scary gargoyles, only these are no longer animals or even chimeras. These are people. The moment of damnation is frozen in time for hundreds of medieval souls across Europe.
20. With their mouths open, they scream through the centuries, constantly reminding you that you need to be able to resist the devil, otherwise this can happen to you too! Probably the creepiest gargoyles are those that remind us of ourselves.
21. This terrible example of the human form in the image of gargoyles is also found on St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Moreover, the pipe through which the water flows sticks out of the mouth so ominously that it seems that it is simply an inhumanly long tongue.
24. Again, in Spain - an unhappy woman at the Cathedral of Lonya in Valencia is captured in the moment of agony.
25. Well, this is a modern gargoyle. And who do you think could do such a miracle? Well, naturally, the Germans. They take the meaning of the word “gargoyle” very literally - to pour water.
By the way…
Gargoyles are mentioned in works of the fantasy genre. They are usually represented as living beings with a stone body.
So, in Asprin’s series of books about the MYTH corporation, one of the minor characters is a gargoyle (male gargoyle) named Ges. In Pratchett's books about the Discworld, gargoyles are one of the intelligent races inhabiting it.
Computer games set in fantasy worlds also sometimes feature gargoyles. For example, in the Disciples games, gargoyles are former soldiers who unquestioningly obeyed their cruel commanders, in the flames of hell their bodies became as hard as their hearts.
In the games of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, gargoyles are creatures that perform two functions at once: aesthetic and practical (protective). Gargoyles are also featured in Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, where they have the ability to turn to stone to quickly heal from wounds.
In addition, there is an animated series of the same name called Gargoyles.
In the game Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil, the main boss is a gargoyle. Also in the Heretic/HeXen series of games, they are the likenesses of very small dragons that have the ability to shoot fireballs.
Gargoyles are also representatives of the world of Harry Potter. They inhabit Hogwarts Castle, and one of them even guards the headmaster's office.
Gargoyles appeared as kind, playful characters in the cartoon “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” The stone statues Victor, Hugo and Laverne are the only friends of the hunchback Quasimodo. Based on the cartoon idea, they decorate Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In fact, the cathedral is decorated with sculptures of chimeras.
end of article from http://bigpicture.ru/?p=318531 Let me remind you of a couple more interesting revelations: here we exposed, then we found out, and then we found out whether The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -There is a city in Spain called Salamanca. Among its attractions, the city's cathedral occupies a central place. The building was built in 1102, the outside is decorated with many sculptures and is an excellent example of medieval architecture. But among the figures there is one that invariably attracts the attention of tourists. 
Guides usually say that this restorer depicted the great modern astronaut. Moreover, each guide usually has his own version. Indeed, in 1990, restoration work took place in the cathedral, and at that time the exterior decoration was also updated.
But here some interesting points arise. For example, the vicar of the cathedral, Rodrigo Solanelles, considers this figure not an astronaut, but a traditional monster, with which the outer walls of the temple were decorated in the Middle Ages. And during the restoration of the temple, only ancient approved canons were used, which do not allow liberties such as attempts to immortalize modern heroes.
There is another version, which is supported by Esteban Sanza, a professor at the University of Salamanca. His students managed to find an engraving in the university library that clearly shows the entire decoration of the cathedral along with the figure of an astronaut. And the engraving was made at the beginning of the 19th century. That is, there is no way this strange sculpture could have appeared later than the end of the 18th century. Among the library manuscripts there is also a record of the meeting of the monks of Salamanca with creatures whose skin was covered with another skin. This monster could become the prototype of the sculpture. These records date back to the Renaissance.
