Mysteries of the past constantly surprise people, and here is the astronaut on the Cathedral of St. Jerome, another mystery that came from the past. Meet the astronaut at the temple who came to us from the past.
On the wall of the Cathedral of St. Jerome in spanish city Salamanca, among other decorations there is a very curious and mysterious high relief that came to us from the past, which still causes bewilderment and confusion among scientists around the world. The fact is that medieval masters depicted on it... an astronaut in a modern spacesuit.
The skillfully carved stone figure on the Temple of Jerome amazes with the precision of all its details. On the chest of the “cosmonaut” there is a picture of a certain device from which hoses go behind his back, very similar to a breathing apparatus, and his feet are shod in boots with thick corrugated soles. Such an image would be common in the 20th century, but the cathedral is almost a thousand years old! How could the builders of the temple know what future space explorers would look like?
Skeptics may say that the figure could have been added during the last restoration of St. Jerome's Cathedral in 1990, and this version is diligently supported by the temple administration in order to protect their temple from increased interest from tourists and the press. However, the cathedral has long been under the protection of UNESCO, and all restoration work with documentation is subject to the strictest control. In such a situation, not a single restorer would dare to “make a joke” with a sculpture of an astronaut in such a way. Moreover, such liberties are strictly persecuted by the laws of the Catholic Church.
The churchmen themselves believe that the astronaut is not a mystery of the past, but simply one of the monsters that very often decorated the outer walls of cathedrals in the Middle Ages; for example, just remember the famous gargoyles on Notre Dame de Paris. Such monsters are called upon, on the one hand, to protect the temple, and on the other, to show parishioners what horrors can await a person outside the walls of the sacred monastery.
Scientists believe that the “cosmonaut” could have appeared on the wall of St. Jerome’s Cathedral, if not in the Middle Ages, then at the latest, during the last reconstruction of the temple in the 18th century. Even if this is so, it is still very far from the gallant age to the era of space exploration. The venerable age of the figure of the astronaut on the temple is confirmed by the fact that ancient engravings of the early 19th century were found in the library of one of the universities, where it is clearly visible, and is located in the same place as it is today.
Medieval manuscripts have been preserved, which mention a mysterious meeting of monks with very unusual creatures, “whose skin was hidden under the outer skin.” What kind of creatures these were can only be guessed at, but then the desire of the church ministers to leave a memory of such strange events, and perhaps to warn descendants about some unknown danger, becomes clear.
Be that as it may, the “astronaut” still keeps his secret and remains the main mystery of the past, calmly observing the bustle from the height of the cathedral wall of St. Jerome modern world. I would like to hope that one day this mystery will be solved, and we will find out what secret knowledge were available to people in the “dark”, in our opinion, Middle Ages.
At the northern entrance to Cathedral Salamanca is always crowded: groups of tourists linger near the portal framed by sculptures
Look at the figure of an astronaut,” the guide points to a small sculpture about two meters above the threshold. - This is a portrait of Neil Armstrong, who was the first to set foot on the surface of the moon.
After standing on the porch of the cathedral for a quarter of an hour, I heard two more versions from different guides: this is John Glenn, the first American astronaut; Edward White, the first American to walk into outer space. In all cases, Spanish guides refer to a local restorer who, twenty years ago, decided to place a figurine of a space explorer at the entrance to the cathedral. Sergio Arrella, deputy director of the Cathedral Museum, commented on my bewilderment: yes, indeed, in 1990, the sculptor-restorer Miguel Romero allowed himself this little artistic prank.
Architect's joke or monster?
However, Rodrigo Solanelles, vicar of the cathedral, has a different version; he decisively rejected this “heresy”:
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.
- But how then did the astronaut get on the wall of the cathedral?
“Trust the guides less,” the padre remarked ironically. - This is a monster common to the Middle Ages, of which there are countless numbers outside on Catholic churches; they symbolize those fiends of hell that a person can encounter outside the church, but there is no way for them inside the cathedral.
Once again I look at the sculptural decoration of the northern portal. Indeed, to the right of the “astronaut” is a typical monster: a bearded monkey with a human look and a vulgarly protruding butt (see photo). This monster makes you want to immediately hide under the church canopy.
As for the controversial figure, perhaps not - after all, he is an astronaut: a classic spacesuit, like in the Museum of Cosmonautics at VDNKh; on the chest there is a box of some kind of device, and the transverse rings of the breathing hose are realistically drawn, and even the corrugated sole of the boots (see photo).
Adventures of the Monks
Esteban Sanza, a philosophy teacher at the University of Salamanca and at the same time the head of the Association of Authors of Alternative Scientific Concepts, is sure that the figure I’m interested in 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. So, the “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.” It turns out that there is no arbitrariness of the restorer here.
It remains to add that all architectural ensemble the center of Salamanca, including, of course, the cathedral, back in 1985, that is, several years before the start of its restoration, was taken under the protection of UNESCO as a universal heritage. All documents for the restoration of monuments of this level undergo many approvals, including international examination. Therefore, it is impossible to simply add medieval figures of an “astronaut” or anyone else to the garland.
It turns out that a strange monster, strikingly identical in appearance to the astronaut-astronaut, was made by masters of the Middle Ages (maximum of the 18th century). Another question: why? Maybe, in fact, impressed by the meeting with mysterious creatures with “skin hidden under the outer skin,” the masters decided to leave a memory of this unforgettable event?
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 took place after modern photo optics made it possible to distinguish small details of the magnificent architectural decoration on high altitude, 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.
At the ancient cathedral of Salamanca, located in Castile y Leon at the northern entrance to the new cathedral, where on the portal at the “Door of Ramos” (Puerta de Ramos), directly opposite the Anaya Palace, a modern one floats at a high altitude in “weightlessness”. an astronaut in full “combat” equipment - a spacesuit with a breathing hose, a helmet, an instrument box on the chest and boots with grooved soles. This figure even received an unofficial name - “Holy Cosmonaut”.
Where did this astronaut on the wall of the ancient cathedral come from? The explanation is quite simple: in 1992, during the restoration of the Ramos doors, which had become dilapidated from time to time, one of the restorers, a certain Miguel Romero, showed creative initiative by decorating the wall with a similar figure. Further, the versions differ: some believe that the restorer decided to play a joke in this way. Others have a more pragmatic explanation: Romero, having introduced a modern element to the façade of the ancient temple, wanted in a similar way to perpetuate a significant event for the 20th century - the conquest of space by man. But who exactly the figure represents, there are many versions. The following stone characters appear: the first cosmonaut of the planet, Russian Yuri Gagarin, the first American astronaut John Glenn, the first American to go into outer space Edward White, the first American astronaut Neil Armstrong to set foot on the surface of the Moon, etc.
Nevertheless, many people are inclined to believe that the figure of the astronaut was here originally, and, therefore, has a mysterious origin that goes beyond ordinary logic. They say that the restorers' joke in this case is excluded for a number of reasons. Firstly, the image of the astronaut is recorded in engravings of the 19th century. Secondly, in ancient manuscripts of Salamanca there is supposedly information about meetings of monks with creatures from other worlds. Thirdly, restoration always follows the canons approved in the Middle Ages, and in the case of an object that is a UNESCO heritage, additional examinations, approvals and permits are required. They also say that and this is not an astronaut at all, but some kind of hellish spawn, of which quite a few “live” on the walls, facades and capitals of columns of ancient European churches.
A number of other similar finds are cited as proof of the “miraculous” version of the astronaut’s origin. For example, images of astronauts on Japanese netsuke, a model airplane from an ancient Egyptian tomb, Incan gold “airplanes”, an image of Darth Vader on the National Cathedral in Washington, as well as an image of a man with a laptop and mobile phone on the mosaic of the Kyiv Koltsevaya metro station in Moscow, built back in 1954.
It must be said that on the wall of the Cathedral in Salamanca there are other, less well-known, but no less interesting figures. For example, a figure of a smiling dragon with three scoops of ice cream. Or a boy with a non-childishly developed manhood.
Guides and tour guides are in no hurry to convince fans of the “miraculous” version of the appearance of an astronaut on the wall of an ancient temple. After all, most importantly, intrigued tourists come here, replenishing the local treasury.
And finally, here's to you figure from the walls of Paisley Abbey in Scotland, located near Glasgow, in which all the gargoyle statues were removed 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.”
The ancient city of Salamanca is located in western Spain. This is an important cultural and historical center of the country, which since 1985 has become part of World Heritage UNESCO. One of the most interesting local attractions is the New Cathedral (Catedral Nueva de Salamanca) located in the center of Salamanca, on the facade of which you can see the figure of a real astronaut.
Construction of the Cathedral of the Ascension of the Theotokos began in 1513 and continued for two centuries. Thanks to such protracted works in the architecture of Catedral Nueva de Salamanca, you can see styles that range from late Gothic to Baroque. The cathedral building is 150 meters long and 50 wide, its height under the copal is 80 meters. Despite some shortcomings, the opening of the temple took place in 1733.
Already in 1755, the New Cathedral of Salamanca needed restoration work - after the powerful Lisbon earthquake, the 93-meter bell tower sank, the main dome collapsed, and large cracks can still be seen in the walls of the ancient building.
However, the New Cathedral of Salamanca attracts tourists more not with its beauty ancient architecture, but a mysterious figure of an astronaut, which is part of the pattern located above the entrance. The northern part of the building is always crowded - everyone should look at the image of a man in a spacesuit on the wall of the cathedral.
The guides who tour the New Cathedral of Salamanca have many interesting theories about how an astronaut in full gear appeared on the façade of the ancient building. But the truth is that during restoration work carried out in 1990, the figure of the astronaut was added by sculptor Miguel Romero. In fact, the main question is why he did this and the real secret lies in him.
The vicar of the New Cathedral of Salamanca categorically rejects the suggestion that the figure of the astronaut was a joke and a free interpretation by the restoration sculptor. The restoration work carried out was carried out in strict accordance with all medieval canons. In addition, in relation to a UNESCO site, any liberties are simply unacceptable. According to the cathedral's vicar, the mysterious sculpture is a typical medieval monster and any resemblance to real characters is fiction.
Interestingly, in the surviving ancient manuscripts of the New Cathedral of Salamanca there is information that its monks may have encountered representatives of extraterrestrial civilizations. Moreover, researcher Esteban Sanza discovered a clear engraving of the façade of the cathedral dating back to the early 19th century, which depicts exactly the same figure in the same place.
