This astronaut sculpture was added to the centuries-old church during the renovation works in the 1990s - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 24, 2021
A photo is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows an astronaut statue (with air tubes and a helmet) in a church that was built in the 1600s. In the post, it is also being claimed that experts have been unable to explain the presence of a modern astronaut statue in a church which is around 400 years old.  Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo shows an astronaut statue in a church built in the 1600s. Experts are unable to explain it.
Fact: The sculpture in the photo is related to the New Cathedral of Salamanca, which was built between 1513 and 1733, in Spain. While the church is centuries old, the astronaut sculpture was added during the renovation works in the 1990s. There is no mystery involved as the Church’s website itself mentions regarding the addition of astronaut sculpture in the 1990s. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When the posted photo was run through Google Reverse Image Search, several similar images were found in the search results. It was found that the sculpture in the photo is related to the New Cathedral of Salamanca, which was built between 1513 and 1733, in Spain.
On the website of the Salamanca Cathedral, it can be read that the astronaut sculpture was added during the renovation works in the 1990s. There is no mystery involved as the Church’s website itself mentions regarding the addition of astronaut sculpture in the 1990s. So, the church is centuries old but not the astronaut sculpture. The same can be read in multiple news articles.
Also, the description of the astronaut sculpture photo on multiple stock images websites mentions that the sculpture was added in the 1990s.
Previously, when the same photo went viral with a claim that the astronaut sculpture is related to 2000-year-old Panchavarnaswamy Temple in Tamil Nadu, FACTLY has debunked it and written a fact-check article, which can be read here.
To sum it up, the astronaut sculpture was added to the centuries-old church during the renovation works in the 1990s.