2 December 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

The mystery of Cathedral of Salamanca’s astronaut figure, isn’t what people think it is

There is a photograph of an “astronaut” carved in a 16th century Spanish cathedral in Salamanca. Known as the Catedral Nueva, the entrance façade of this cathedral features a strange modern figure who appears to be an astronaut wearing a helmet.

This picture, circulating the internet, could easily cause someone to pause and even rethink their position on the validity of ancient aliens.

However, this spacesuit, complete with tubes and boots, shows an accurate depiction of what a man in space would be outfitted with. And the picture is not fiction or fabrication.

The Catedral Nueva, or ‘New Cathedral’ is not new at all, as is the way of many churches in European cities. It’s a building project that started back in 1513, and was interrupted by various events, including the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.

Cathedral of Salamanca is actually two churches joined together, one dates back to the 12th‒13th centuries, while the newer one dates back to the 16th century.

Salamanca’s biggest and loveliest surprise is its enclosed Main Square. Dating from the 18th century, it’s a marvel of sandstone that seems to have survived intact, rather like the Place de Vosges in Paris. Up to 150 years ago, they would have had an unsettlingly fine view of the bullfights that took place in the plaza below. A bull’s head in stone still protrudes over one of the exits from the square to signal the fact.

View of Cathedral of Salamanca, Castilla y Leon region, Spain.
View of Cathedral of Salamanca, Castilla y Leon region, Spain.

Salamanca is one of three university cities close to Madrid that attracts visitors interested in culture and particular places of veneration.

As with most pictures that circulate the internet making weird claims, there is a deeper story behind the carving on Catedral Nueva and it doesn’t involve aliens at all.

According to reports, the astronaut carvings were included only recently; in fact they were only included in 1992, and not the 12th or 16th century.

While it is true that Catedral Nueva’s construction began in 1513, under the order of King Ferdinand, married to the famous Queen Isabella, there was no such carving at the time of the project’s completion.

One of the artists, Jeronimo Garcia, who was responsible for working on the project, decided that he would add a personal touch to the work and decided to include two sculptures that were modern in creation.

The explanation for why an astronaut was selected was because it was a symbol of the 20th century when one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind was achieving space flight and landing on the Moon.

That is not all, as the artist even included figure of a dragon eating an ice-cream, a lynx, a bull, a stork, a rabbit, and a crayfish.

It can be fun to look into concepts like the ancient astronauts theory, but most of the time, there are far more plausible explanations than the idea that aliens once roamed the Earth, inspiring people to carve statues of them into cathedrals.

Related Articles

Al-Ula, The Living Museum of Ancient Arab Civilizations

12 February 2021

12 February 2021

Al-Ula oasis is located in the lush Wadi Al-Qura, or “valley of villages”, about 110 km southwest of the modern...

The Most Important Works of Achaemenid Persian Metalwork “Oxus Treasure”

21 May 2021

21 May 2021

The Oxus Treasure is a collection of 180 precious metal objects unearthed on the north bank of the Oxus River...

500-year-old Inca mummy, as if in a deep sleep “La Doncella”

24 August 2021

24 August 2021

Three Inca mummies found near the high Volcán Llullaillaco peak in Argentina in 1999 stunned all scientists. The 3 Incas...

Jade Burial Suits of the Han Dynasty

12 September 2021

12 September 2021

Threaded hand-crafted from thousands of precious stone slabs with silver and gold during the Han Dynasty about 2000 years ago,...

Mysterious Archaeological find in Flanders Revealed to be Hernia Truss

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

The hernia truss found during the Hopmarkt excavations in Aalst, in the Belgian state of East Flanders, was a surprise...

How Was the Life of Teenager in Ancient Times?

1 March 2021

1 March 2021

Youth is the same in every era. Not so hard to guess. How was your life as a teenager? You...

China’s 4300-Year-Old Ancient Pyramids

26 March 2021

26 March 2021

Shaanxi Province in Northwest China is famous for its rich archaeological treasures. Among the many sites discovered in Shaanxi, the...

The 11-meter giant statue of the island of Naxos “Dionysus of Apollonas”

22 March 2023

22 March 2023

One of the two ancient marble quarries, thought to have begun the sculpture, the greatest art of antiquity, is located...

Ireland’s most beautiful round tower and Romanesque architecture

21 August 2021

21 August 2021

Romanesque means “from the Romans”, “descendant of the Romans”. This architectural style is called “Norman architectural style” in England and...

World’s First Pregnant Ancient Egyptian Mummy has been Discovered

29 April 2021

29 April 2021

Experts from the Polish Academy of Sciences aim to research all mummies in museums as part of the Warsaw Mummy...

Lady of Cao and Moche Culture

25 October 2021

25 October 2021

The Moche civilization and the Mochico culture were one of the pre-Inca civilizations that developed in the north of present-day...

Khirbet Midras pyramid and  Archaeological Site in Israel

28 November 2022

28 November 2022

Khirbet Midras (Arabic) or Horvat Midras (Hebrew) is one of several antiquities sites located within the Adullam Grove National Park,...

1,000-year-old Chicken Egg Found in Israel

9 June 2021

9 June 2021

Archaeologists discover almost fully intact but nearly empty egg and three rare Islamic-period bone dolls in excavation of settlement dating...

Famous Celtic hero bust of the Czech Republic “The head of Mšecké Žehrovice”

5 May 2022

5 May 2022

Located in the Czech Republic, the Mšecké Žehrovice’s head makes an appealing piece with its delightful curling mustaches- “perhaps the...

Michelangelo, the artistic giant, was actually rather short

3 September 2021

3 September 2021

The legendary Michelangelo Buonarroti left huge works behind as an artist. But Italian researchers found that the shoes of this...