The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly — Civium Architecture & Planning

Looking to get in the spirit of Halloween, we thought about what in Architecture some might consider scary, eerie, or ghoulish, and gargoyles quickly came to mind. Gargoyles are a prominent feature of Gothic architecture along with pointed arches, flying buttresses, and stained-glass windows.

Technically, a gargoyle is any carved or formed figure incorporating a spout to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building to prevent the water from running down the walls. Typically, the spout is formed so the water is seemingly emitted from the figures mouth. Gargoyles were commonly used on buildings before rain leaders or downspouts became the normal practice. When not used as a waterspout but only as ornament, such a figure is called a grotesque. Gargoyles and grotesques can take on any form, but in medieval architecture they were most commonly depicted as fantastical creatures comprised of features combined from different animals and people. The figures were sometimes humorous but most often grotesque, tormented, or frightening creatures. How did this tradition of fantastical, grotesque ornament come to be the common way of adorning churches?

Gargoyle - Basilica Sacre Coeur; Paris, France

One often-cited origin comes from the French legend of St. Romain. The legend claims that St. Romain, a priest, delivered the region around Rouen, France, from a monster called La Gargouille, using the sign of the cross and the aid of a condemned man to subdue the beast. La Gargouille is described like a typical dragon with wings, a long neck, and a fire-breathing mouth. The captured monster is led back to Rouen and burned, but its head and neck would not burn, tempered by the beast’s own fiery breath. So, the head was mounted to the walls of the church to ward off evil spirits and provide protection to the town.

A second potential origin is thought to come from Celtic culture. The Celts, able hunters, believed that the heads of their prey attracted luck and repelled evil, so the heads were mounted on sticks placed in a circle around their homes for protection. Later practice hung the heads directly upon buildings. Early Christians allegedly placed carved animals on churches to make them more inviting and entice pagans to enter. Thus, pagan practices were absorbed into Catholic tradition to aid conversion. Both stories explain the common superstition that gargoyles ward off evil spirits and protect the structures they adorn.

One must also remember that most of the population of medieval Europe was illiterate. So, painting and sculpture were important tools to convey religious teachings. The frightful monsters and tormented figures depicted by many gargoyles were meant to remind the faithful of the danger and anguish that come from evil and the need for continued protection by the church.

The medieval use of gargoyles was not a new practice, however. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans all used animal-shaped stones to direct water from the roofs of buildings. Lion heads were most commonly used. In fact, in his architectural treatise The Ten Books on Architecture, the Imperial Roman architect and author Vitruvius in describing the Ionic Order prescribes that a lion’s head should be carved on the cyma of the cornice aligned over each column, with holes bored through them to the gutter behind so that they will appear to be vomiting as they discharge streams of water from their mouths.

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