Have you seen the icons of St. Christopher? Perhaps the most unusual sight for a Christian. And this is indeed a holy martyr who is venerated in both Orthodoxy and Catholicism. He is still popular in Spain, and in Lithuania a monument was erected to him. Among the Orthodox, he is still especially revered in the circles of the Old Believers. It is precisely thanks to them that rare icons and frescoes of the psagh saint have survived.
Medieval illustration with kinocephals.
After this event, Saint Christopher began to be depicted as a young warrior. But all the ancient images of this martyr were always with the head of a dog.
Where did he come from?
There are several versions of the life of this saint. Although in all traditions it is mentioned that he was huge in stature, a very fierce and terrible warrior, had a bestial appearance and was a native of the Berber or Lebanese tribes and his name was Reprev. He believed in Christ, was baptized under the name Christopher, actively preached, denounced the opponents of Christians. He was captured by order of the emperor Datius, on the way to the palace he performed a number of miracles in front of the soldiers who seized him (multiplying the loaves, the flowering of the rod), who also believed in Christ. The emperor was frightened by the terrible predatory appearance of Christopher and tried to force him to renounce his faith, but nothing came of it, then the martyr was thrown into a red-hot copper box, but the heat did not harm the saint, and as a result Christopher was beheaded. By the way, the head and body were preserved by Peter of Attali.
Old Believer icon of St. Christopher.
The fact that he was a psaghlavet confirms the written testimony of Archdeacon Paul of Aleppo, who participated in the washing of relics in Moscow in the 17th century.
Promotional video:
The relics of St. Christopher.
Today, a gilded shrine with the skull of St. Christopher is kept in the church of St. Justyns, Raba, Croatia.
What kind of head did Christopher have?
And in the Synaxarium of Constantinople (a document where Christian saints are described, information about them and holidays), it is indicated that the exotic appearance of Saint Christopher is associated with his origin from the country of psaglavy people. Although, it is also specified that the indication of his appearance should not be taken literally.
Holy Martyr Christopher.
Indeed, in ancient texts, mainly Greek and Roman historians, for example, Herodotus, Pliny and Hesiod, there are many references to the people of kinokyphals (psaglavs), and even the regions of their habitation are described: Libya, Ethiopia, even the region of India. Of course, it is worth considering that ancient the authors loved to expose in an impartial light the inhabitants of other regions, especially savages and barbarians. For them, many people seemed bestial.
But even in the stories of Andrew the First-Called there is a mention of the Psaglava tribes whom he met in the process of missionary work somewhere in the region of Iran. Yes, and in the ancient Slavic texts, the Psaglava tribes are also mentioned.
All this, of course, looks like fiction. But the traveler Marco Polo shed light on this paradox. During his travels in Central Asia, he really met the tribes of "cinocephalic". In fact, these were ordinary people, but they had a strange custom. They bandaged the heads of their babies forcing them to deform, which led to stretching of the skull and it took on an elongated shape. And the men of these tribes cut their mouths to make them appear larger and sharpen their teeth. They were a fierce, militant people, wild enough even for that era.
Apparently Saint Christopher was just a native of such tribes. Moreover, the region of its origin and the habitat of these terrible tribes converge. There are indeed many dark spots in the history of mankind that have not yet been fully solved. But behind most of the legends and myths, there is a grain of truth that can shed light on even the most incredible legends. And reality is more terrifying than fiction.