Discover the 18th century 'time box' in the statue of Jesus

Experts found the secret compartment hiding two letters from 1777 inside.

Spanish historians found a secret compartment containing ancient documents that could be a time box while restoring the 18th-century statue of Jesus, National Geographic on 4 December. The time box is a place for historical documents or objects that represent the culture of that time, which is carefully kept for generations to discover.

The statue is a picture of Jesus on the cross, placed in the church of St. Águeda, Northern Spain. It began to appear cracks and loose out of the price, according to Gemma Ramírez, expert in restoring the statue. When the expert team raised the statue on the desk, they found something inside.

They opened the buttocks of the statue and saw documents describing the life of the late 18th century in Spain . Two hand letters appeared in 1777 and were yellowed. On it was signed by Joaquín Mínguez, a chaplain at Burgo de Osma church.

In the letter, the Mínguez portrays a picture of cultural economic activity of the time. He pointed out that the statue was built by a man named Manuel Bal. This person also made many other wooden statues for the churches in the area.

Mínguez describes the bumper crops of wheat, rye, oats, barley and liquor stores. He also listed a number of diseases such as typhoid outbreaks in the village at that time. According to the letter, people use cards and balls to entertain.

The team discovered ancient documents depicting life in the 18th century. (Photo: National Geographic).

Apart from living in the village, Mínguez also writes about Spanish politics. King Carlos III was in power at that time and the palace was in Madrid. The letter also referred to the Spanish Inquisition, which existed between 1478 and 1834.

The extensive description in the letters suggests, it seems that Mínguez wants to turn them into a time box for later generations, the historian Efren Arroyo told El Mundo.

The restoration team commented that this is one of the most surprising findings. Two letters were then sent to Archbishop of Burgos to be kept. Experts also reset a copy to the old position in the statue according to Mínguez's intentions.