“A Russian in El Agustino”: Renato Cisneros comments on Yuri Gagarin's strange relationship with Peru | EC Stories | ARE

Built on the first block of Giron Caribe, El Agustino cries out for passers-by's gaze with its stunning Soviet-themed architecture spread over five floors and an unusual offering that includes a sauna, snack-bar and karaoke. , hotel Yuri Gagarin It may be the only place in Peru that pays tribute to the first man in space.

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This strange building, with designs reminiscent of St. Basil's Cathedral and the domes on the facade of the Kremlin, was owned twenty years ago by a Peruvian, Don Cristóbal Ninamango, after living in Moscow for a decade. Symbols of Russian culture, especially Yuri, the cosmonaut, perhaps the most famous contemporary Russian hero, created a shelter where he could condense all the charms raised in him.

In June 1980, a spectacular titanium obelisk, more than forty meters in size, was erected on Lenin Avenue in Moscow, with an image of Gagarin. The boy looks very attractive in a Superman role—from a distance he looks like one. Buzz Lightyear Metal – a boy with a height of 158 centimeters, which no one would think of, was the height that selected him among more than three thousand volunteers who took part in a competition initiated by the Soviet government in 1960. A man in space for the first time.

A year later, on April 12, 1961, inside the Vostok 1 capsule, twenty-seven-year-old Commander Gagarin spent 108 minutes outside Earth orbit. Its weight is said to have increased by five times during take off. In his first communication from the ship he said: “I can see Earth. Visibility is good. I can see almost everything. I can see a certain edge under the cumulus cover. I'm continuing the flight. Everything is going well”.

Because it was an achievement not directly related to any war and a person who was not connected to militant politics, people saw in his achievement the victory of the ordinary Russian worker. This historic achievement brought him such great fame that he could not walk through Moscow without being accosted by the public, he says in the book. I see the earth. Songs were written for him and movies were made in his name. All Russian children suddenly wanted to be cosmonauts. Gagarin went on a twenty-nine-country world tour that included dining with the Queen of England, sharing time with Fidel Castro in Cuba, and being kissed by Gina Lolloprigida in Spain.

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However, his life soon takes a tragic turn. His mismanagement of popularity was compounded by marital problems resulting from his constant infidelities; To make matters worse, his superiors decided not to fly any training flights to avoid putting him in danger. Devastated, he turned to alcohol so obsessively that he had to be admitted to a sanatorium to cure his addiction. One afternoon, Gagarin had an accident when he fell from the second floor of the sanatorium, escaping his wife, who was flirting with a nurse. Man, who was the first to reach space, fell victim to the law of gravity.

Gagar's death in a plane crash is shrouded in mystery. There are those who think KGB agents took him down because his alcoholism and other personal problems might have given the space hero a less epic ending. Others say he is becoming a strong political figure, which could lead to his ouster by his opponents. It's hard to know: the plane he died in didn't have a black box, so there's no reliable information about how the ship went down.

Yuri Gagarin Square is a must-stop for tourists visiting the Russian capital due to the monument's allure and character in Moscow (I saw several Peruvians taking photos there during the 2018 World Cup). But if the economy doesn't allow for that luxury, the alternative is to spend the weekend at the Lima hotel of the same name. Mr. Cristobal Ninamango advises it with an enthusiastic championship slogan: “Here you will not travel to space, but at least they will make you look at the stars.”