Located on the north entrance façade of a 300-year-old church in Salamanca, Spain is a sculpted figure that resembles a modern astronaut. Construction of the church began in 1513 and was completed in 1733.
Mysterious astronaut carvings at a 300-year-old Spanish church
Immediately, what the eyes saw made the mind ask questions. Theories about ancient aliens, time travel, precognition, and many other ideas come to our minds. And, although today’s world still holds many mysteries, the mystery of the Salamanca Cathedral Astronaut has a fairly simple and practical explanation.
Statue of astronaut Salamanca sits on the facade of the entrance to the New Cathedral in the city of Salamanca, Spain.
Salamanca, Spain, is home to two churches. The “ Old Cathedral”, simply called “ Catedral Vieja ”, was built around the middle of the 12th century. Therefore, it may be one of the oldest churches in Europe.
The remaining church, called “ Catedral Nueva” or “ New Church, ” was not new by today’s standards, but it was new when people gave it this name.
The astronaut statue appears at the entrance to the new Church, next to it, parallel to the door. This astronaut sat on a tree trunk, complete with shoes, helmet, and what appeared to be a respiratory device on his chest, connected to two tubes to the backpack on his back. This astronaut’s right hand is holding something that looks like a vine, like a kind of saddle hung around his waist. His left hand grabbed a leaf next to him. His face expressed a rather surprised state.
But, how could this happen? Astronauts could not exist when this church was built. It seems that the carving was in fact part of the restoration of the church in 1992. At that time, “Puerta de Ramos ” (this is the name of the entrance to the new Church) appeared to be significantly damaged. after a few centuries of existence.
The renovation was probably carried out by stone mason Miguel Romero under the supervision of Jerónimo García de Quiñones. Traditionally, during the restoration of a church , something from modern times is added, and in this case, those in charge of the restoration chose the image of an astronaut.
However, proponents of alternative theories argue that the astronaut was actually carved much earlier and that the restoration work simply repaired damage to the space carving. astronaut. The mystery lies in the fact that photos of the church facade before restoration and eyewitness accounts of the church entrance are extremely scarce, making the debate more intense.
The astronaut statue was damaged by vandals in 2010, according to Ancient Code. Photos circulating online show a statue of an astronaut with his right arm missing and his face deformed. The damaged areas were later repaired.
A 2010 photo shows damage to the astronaut statue. (Photo: Rastrojo/Wikimedia Commons)
The city also has other strange carvings, for example part of the facade of the University of Salamanca, a very detailed and varied stone carving, depicting all kinds of shapes and designs. In that carving, there is hidden a human skull with a frog on top . This carving is quite old because the facade was constructed in 1529. It is believed that this carving represents Prince Juan , who died in 1497 at the age of 20. According to the Cultural Travel Guide, this frog represents the doctor who treated the Prince.
Another “Easter Egg ” carving is located very close to the astronaut statue and is also located at the same entrance to the new Cathedral. Dragons are often depicted in cultural carvings that resemble the dragons mentioned here. But, this dragon stands out in that it appears to be enjoying an ice cream cone with three ice creams in its left hand. The dragon enjoying ice cream is another example of the 1992 restoration.
Salamanca is an extremely ancient city located northwest of the capital Madrid . In the 3rd century BC, the city was invaded by the Carthaginians. The city then fell to the Romans and then to the Moors, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNESCO. The city has famous landscapes such as monuments from the Roman, Gothic, Moorish, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. This city was recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988.
