Legend believes a huge dragon once lived in a cave near the left banks of the river Seine and that it preyed upon ships and swallowed them up along with the people of Rouen, in France.
In the hope of appeasing "La Gargouille," as the dragon was called, the people of Rouen would sacrifice a convict to it every year until a Priest named Saint Romanis freed the town folk by slaying it in the 7th century. The townspeople built a huge fire to destroy the creature's body, but its head and neck failed to burn because they were accustomed to heat, so they were separated from its body and mounted on the side of a nearby Church wall, thus giving birth to the first gargoyle waterspout, or so the story goes. St. Romanis, in exchange for his services rendered, asked that a Church be built in his honour, and that all the local people be baptized.
Is it... A gargoyle or just grotesque?
While all gargoyles might be considered grotesque, all grotesques are not considered gargoyles. If it serves to drain water from a building, it's a gargoyle. If it does not, it is either a stone carving, or a grotesque, or more commonly, a chimera (an imaginary fire-breathing monster typically represented as a combination of a lion’s head, a goats body, and a serpents tail).
Myth versus Legend versus Superstition
Since the bloody reign of La Gargouille came to its inevitable end, gargoyles have decidedly became less intimidating, but superstition still holds the key to keeping evil spirits at bay and serves as a mild form of protection nowadays. In fact, gargoyles have proven themselves to be useful on more than a few occasions, useful as flying monsters in art paintings, as a nemesis for knights in shining armour, and just as interestingly, as tall tales and fables aimed at children’s minds as an entertaining scary-story.
Gargoyles were believed to come alive at night, in the same manner akin to the flying "equally batty" vampire, and, in order to protect the lives of their human servants entrusted with their care, they would need to return to their perches or coffins before daybreak, or face total-destruction by Gods Light.
Gargoyles discovered on church buildings were often believed to be evil creatures frozen in time and encased in stone; when one had laboured long enough in the service of God, it earned its release and was then allowed to enter the church and later, heaven.
Some people actually believed gargoyles to be sin that was made real, then captured and encased in stone. Other gargoyles, such as lions and dogs, were believed to be spiritual forces of good, forever vigilant and watchful over their human custodians.
Furthermore … Did You Know?
Work on the la Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris (the cathedral of Our Lady of Paris) began in 1163 when the first corner-stone was laid, and its construction was finally completed around 1345 - 182 years later.
In 1548 rioting damaged many of its features. In 1786 a statue of St. Christopher dating back to 1413 was destroyed. During the French revolution in 1793 many of the cathedrals treasures were either plundered or destroyed. Statues of the biblical kings of Judah, thought to be the Kings of France, were beheaded. Some of those heads were found during excavation work in 1977 and are housed at the Musée du Cluny.
The Second World War also caused considerable damage to the cathedral when many of its stained glass windows were damaged by stray bullets.
In the end, it was the Gargoyles that saved Notre Dame Cathedral, and I bet you didn’t know that?
