Given the length required to effectively drain the water, these heavy sculptures must have been tricky to attach. Carvers worked at ground level and the sculptures were attached to the rooftops after completion. The earliest waterspouts were carved stone. In addition to their water draining duties, depending on who you read, they were thought to ward off evil, or meant to warn churchgoers about evil. Most frequently, gargoyles were winged dragons, but they could also be other animals (and hybrid animals), mythical creatures and even humans. A long, straight spout would have done the job, but if you’ve seen many Gothic buildings you know that few opportunities for ornate decorations were passed up – hence artistically carved stone gargoyles. The idea was simple drain water from the church roof to prevent damage to the building walls and foundation. Architects began using gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals between the 11th – 13th Centuries. The word gargoyle originates from the old French word gargouille meaning throat. We’ve had luscious Peruvian balconies, opulent Spanish arches, and a baby-blue Slovak church. And now, it’s the weird and wonderful world of gargoyles. If you’ve followed our blog for a while, you’ve noticed that we enjoy architectural details.

But it only took the second photo, and Bam!, I was a gargoyle waterspout photo collector. In fact, in the beginning I had no intention of becoming a collector.

Download gargoyles on a church