The mysterious statues of St. Augustine (Photo)

South America keeps many secrets and mysteries. Majestic pyramids of the Aztecs and Incas, strange and frightening underground catacombs of unknown civilizations. And the fantastic park of stone idols in Colombia. This place is covered in mysteries. This place preserves the spirit of antiquity. Looks like time has frozen here. This is the San Agustin Valley.

The ancient civilizations of South America have left behind a grandiose legacy, the significance of which to this day is absolutely incomprehensible to us. However, the many artifacts that are scattered across the continent make us think about how much the culture of these peoples has developed.

In a small Colombian valley San Augustin, five kilometers from Bogotá, lies a small town of the same name. Its population is only 30 thousand inhabitants. However, every year, thousands of tourists come there to see the wonderful statues that were discovered in 1758 by the Catholic monk Juan de Santa Gertrudis.

According to the missionary, these were fantastic sculptures that inspired both fear and respect. Two centuries later, archaeologists became interested in this place, and in the middle of the 19th century, the Italian Gavazzi visited San Agustin to make sketches of the statues.

Fifty years later, archeology professor Carl Stempel followed in the general's footsteps and even made some molds on the statues, discovering that some of them were tombs. However, he did not find bones there, rightly assuming that they either decomposed permanently or were taken by the beasts.

As a result of further research, approximately 328 stone istukans were counted, each of them unique. Their common features are just huge, sharp teeth and fierce eyes. Many monsters clutch their babies upside down. One part of the statues holds a knife in its paws, the other - a pen for writing. Several figures devour human embryos.

In the center of this multitude of stone istukani rises a dolmen, consisting of two statues and two columns, supporting a huge stone slab, resembling the vault of the temple. The statues hold an ax in their paws, have helmets on their heads, and above them float images that resemble heavenly spirits. All this splendor is carved from granite, which simply does not exist in these places. It is awful to imagine how much force it took to bring these statues to their present place. However, there are sculptures of porous volcanic rocks and even simple sandstone.

Spectral analysis of the rocks indicated that the first figures in St. Augustine were created in 800 BC. The architectural ensemble is older than the pyramids of Egypt. But we know the builders of the pyramids, from architects to simple slaves. We can even know details, such as the amount of bread consumed during construction. And the authors of these new idols we will never find out.

The ornament that covers the statues is complicated, sometimes among them there are figures with a double face. Paleontologists have assumed that the ancient masons wanted to show by this the meeting of two creatures, of which, in the end, the third emerges. These sculptures are said to warn man of the danger hidden behind them. There is no single opinion.

This place has long been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Guides say that many people who have visited this place, often return, because the stone idols, as if they would not let people go. There is a legend about a Dutchman who, for twenty years, comes here every year for his birthday to walk the same path among the statues and return home. Nobody knows why he does this. And the Dutchman is silent and the file smiles mysteriously.