The medieval cathedral in the ancient Spanish city of Salamanca, famous for one of the first universities of old Europe, is beautiful.

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 building was timed right... However, this does not matter, just as the time of the appearance of baroque decor is unimportant ( actually 1714-1724) on the facade. 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 have made it possible to distinguish small details of magnificent architectural decoration at high altitudes, 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 was being completed cathedral. This confidence of his has a strictly scientific basis: in the university library, Mr. Sansa’s students found an engraving early XIX century with a photographically accurate image 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 announced national monument, since 1902 there has been a stream of continuous restorations, and in 1956 the cathedral museum finally opened.
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.

09.07.2014

It is human nature to search for the inexplicable and mysterious. And even when an explanation for a mysterious phenomenon has already been found, there are always people who continue to believe in the “miraculous” nature of the phenomenon.

A classic example of such a riddle is the ancient Cathedral in the provincial capital of Salamanca, located in autonomous community Castilla y Leon and since 1985 included in the list UNESCO heritage. Myself temple complex(one of two in the city) consists of two cathedrals - the old (Catedral Vieja, 12th century) and the new, late Gothic - Catedral Nueva de la Asunción de la Virgen (New Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin), built in the 16th and 18th centuries.

But not all tourists arriving here are attracted by the beauty of the ancient temple. Upon arrival, many immediately rush to the northern entrance to the new cathedral, where on the portal at the “Door of Ramos” (Puerta de Ramos), directly opposite the Anaya Palace, at a high altitude soars in “zero gravity”... a modern 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 stone character appears: 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 the 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, it is completely required additional examinations, approvals and permissions. They also say that this is not an astronaut at all, but some kind of hellish spawn, many of which “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.

It is human nature to search for the inexplicable and mysterious. And even when an explanation for a mysterious phenomenon has already been found, there are always people who continue to believe in the “miraculous” nature of the phenomenon.

A classic example of such a mystery is the ancient cathedral in the provincial center of Salamancalocated in the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leonand since 1985 included in the UNESCO heritage list. The temple complex itself (one of two in the city) consists of two cathedrals - the old one (Catedral Vieja,XIIcentury) and new, late Gothic CatedralNueva de la Asunción de la Virgen (New Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin), built inXVIAndXVIIIcenturies.

But not all tourists arriving here are attracted by the beauty of the ancient temple. Upon arrival, many immediately rush to the northern entrance to the new cathedral, where on the portal at the “doors of palm branches” (Puerta de Ramos), right opposite the Anaya Palace, at a high altitude you can clearly see the figure... of a modern cosmonaut in full “combat” equipment - a spacesuit with a breathing hose, a helmet, an instrument boxon the chest andboots with grooved soles. This figure even received an unofficial name - “Holy Cosmonaut”.

Where did this astronaut come from?on the wall of an ancient cathedral? The explanation is quite simple: in 1992, during the restoration of time-dilapidated "doors of palm branches" 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 depicts, the versions differ. The first cosmonaut of the planet, Russian Yuri Gagarin, appears as a stone character,the first American astronaut John Glenn, the first American to go into outer space Edward White,American astronaut was the first to set foot on the moonNeil Armstrong, 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 on engravingsXIXcentury. Secondly, in the 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 this is not an astronaut at all, but some kind of hellish spawn, many of which “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 of an 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 a 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. After all, why try to convince people who really want to believe in miracles?

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.

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.”

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.