What is a gargoyle and what does it symbolize?
In addition to the practical function of projecting water away from a building, gargoyles were also intended to symbolise ‘guardianship’ of the building and to ward off evil spirits. Their open mouths were symbolic of them devouring giants.
What do gargoyles protect you from?
Gargoyles were designed to protect buildings from water erosion. They are basically rain gutters with ugly faces.
What is the functional purpose of a gargoyle?
In architecture, and specifically in Gothic architecture, a gargoyle (/ˈɡɑːrɡɔɪl/) is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between.
What are the different gargoyles?
Generally speaking, gargoyles can be classified into three kinds of figures, humans, animals and monsters.
Where should I place gargoyles in my house?
They are often the things that put the finishing touches to a garden. Your gargoyle can be set simply amongst shrubbery, partly obscured from view, or made a more obvious feature and placed on columns, or pedestals at various points in the garden such as in grottoes, alcoves, staircases or at the end of a path.
Is a gargoyle evil?
A gargoyle is usually chaotic evil. Gargoyles are sentient, cunning, and malevolent to the extreme.
Why do old buildings have gargoyles?
Like modern gutter systems you might see on houses or newer buildings, gargoyles prevent rainwater from running down stone walls, eroding the mortar that holds a building together. Architects often designed buildings with multiple gargoyles to direct the flow of rainwater.
Why don’t we put gargoyles on buildings anymore?
So why did gargoyles fall out of favor? Quite simply, their practicality and cost. Gargoyles are typically heavy, carved stone, which were neither cheap to make, nor easy to maintain in their own right.
Do gargoyles protect your house?
They’re protectors,” says Babbie Seibels, owner of At Home, a Birmingham, Ala., furnishings and accessories store. But gargoyles are intended to be just a little bit scary. Superstition has long held that the grotesque stone figures frightened away evil spirits.
Why do people have gargoyles in front of their house?
The spooky creatures, which seem especially relevant this time of year, were first used to decorate the drain spouts of 13th-century churches (gargoyle comes from the French word gargouille, meaning throat or pipe), and history’s best guess is that their sinister stances were meant to scare away evil spirits.