There are beings whose essence and purpose, and with them their human perception, have changed very much over the past centuries. Humanity has always been wary of such creatures, but suddenly changed its views on them and equated individual creatures with their guardians. The first example can be considered - the messengers of God, who initially carried on their shoulders a difficult mission - to punish apostates and sinners, suddenly became the defenders of people. In Asian mythology, a similar thing happened to the demons, who suddenly began to scare off the lesser evil and to whom they began to erect statues. And in European mythology, with the advent of the "Gothic" architectural style, the attitude towards gargoyles changed - they became the guardians of temples, preventing evil spirits from entering the abode of God.

Today, gargoyles are widely known and widespread. In many games, they are present as dangerous opponents or powerful allies. In films, gargoyles are much less common. And in everyday life, you can often see their images. Silent statues that crown cathedrals and temples and keep vigilant watch. Gargoyles are almost always depicted as anthropomorphic (human-like) creatures that have leathery wings (similar to demonic ones), sharp claws and strange heads, sometimes animal (lion or wolf), sometimes a mixture of animal with human or avian. Sometimes gargoyles are confused with harpies, but the differences are too obvious, only the names are a bit similar.

A distinctive feature of gargoyles is their ability to turn to stone and awaken from it. In fact, any statue can be a gargoyle, because in a sense, these creatures are just stone statues that have awakened to life through their will (and never someone else's - otherwise it is not a gargoyle). Having received serious injuries (and it is very difficult to inflict such a gargoyle) the creature turns into stone and becomes practically invulnerable, very quickly regenerating under a dense layer of the outer shell. It's funny, but the gargoyles outside the stone have the most ordinary skin, similar to human, just gray in color.

Relationship to people and other creatures

We can say that gargoyles hate all living things. Initially, without regrets, with extreme cruelty, with their sharp claws and teeth, they tore people to pieces, but over time, people managed to achieve some kind of understanding with these creatures. Much more than people, gargoyles hate other creatures. Demons, devils, ghosts, vampires - all these creatures cause uncontrollable aggression among gargoyles (although there are references to the fact that sometimes gargoyles unite, for example, with vampires as loyal servants, apparently the origin of the gargoyle plays a role here), which inevitably leads to fight.

Origin (possible source)

It is often mentioned that gargoyles enter into an alliance with other creatures. For example, gargoyles that guard the peace of a cemetery can easily enter into an alliance with - since they pursue common goals and are immune to the abilities of most types of undead. Gargoyles that guard temples, contrary to generally accepted Christian doctrine, often serve angels for unknown reasons.

Perhaps the answer to this mystery lies precisely in the origin of the gargoyles. A person, creating a statue, gives it a shape, but in order for the statue to become a gargoyle, someone must fill this form, bring the power that will take it. Perhaps people sometimes unconsciously let gargoyles into their bodies, but angels and cemetery creatures do it consciously, creating powerful guards.

Be that as it may, the mighty gargoyles side with people, pursuing and destroying other creatures that may be too dangerous for mere mortals.

.
.
The gargoyle is the fruit of medieval mythology. The word "gargoyle" comes from the old French gargouille- pharynx, and its sound imitates the gurgling sound that occurs when gargling. The first gargoyles as far back as the XII-XV centuries. installed near gutters, as a guide for water. The useful, the beautiful and the secret were combined. In the 18th and 19th centuries, most of the gargoyles were already replaced by lead drainpipes. Having lost a useful function, gargoyles have become simply an element of the decoration of buildings. Chimeras are another name for gargoyles. They were called so because of the obvious analogy of a similar monster invented in Greece. There chimera the mythical creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and a snake's tail was called, but outwardly medieval gargoyles - chimeras have nothing to do with it. Gargoyles sitting on the facades of Catholic cathedrals were presented in two ways. On the one hand, they were like ancient sphinxes as guardian statues, capable of reviving and protecting a temple or a mansion in a moment of danger, on the other hand, when they were placed on temples, it showed that all evil spirits were fleeing from this holy place, since they could not bear the temple purity. Often human sins were embodied in them, from which people are trying to get rid of. Chimeras became, as it were, an illustration for illiterate people of all human passions and those demons that can torment fallen souls. Gargoyles were portrayed in different ways. There was no single standard like the sphinxes. But the similarities were certainly present. For example, they could look like ordinary big cats or dogs, but with special sharp wings like bats, or in the form of some kind of humanoid demon-demon, also with wings. bats, goat horns or snake heads, swan necks or eagle's claws.
The wingedness of gargoyles was one of the mandatory attributes, since they always sat on the roofs or facades of buildings, quite high and could only get to their habitats with the help of their wings. Non-winged gargoyles are much less common, of which there are quite a few.
The most famous stone chimeras live of course in France, in a Gothic cathedral Notre Dame de Paris - Notre Dame Cathedral ... Moreover, they are so personified that some even have their own names. Philosopher, Nun, etc. Gargoyles, as an architectural decoration, were taken out of the depths of antiquity by a very famous trend in art like Gothic. It was Catholic churches and cathedrals throughout Europe in the Gothic style that were covered with stone chimeras. Such statues are considered an indispensable attribute of the Gothic style, which are unique to him. Often, gargoyles were used to decorate ordinary mansions and houses. They guarded buildings in the form of a ridge or sat near gutters. Most of the stone monsters adorned Catholic cathedrals. Gargoyles - who are they and why are they so scary?

This serpent on a building in Krakow, Poland, warns people of the sins of the flesh.

The legend of the Gargoyle appears on the okyu of the 7th century AD. on the territory of modern France. There are several different versions of the myth, but something like this is emerging.

In the vicinity of the city of Rouen, in a den in the swamps on the banks of the Seine, a huge dragon (serpent) lived. The dragon attacked ships sailing along the Seine and terrorized local residents. From the dragon's mouth, either fire fell on everything and everyone around, or even the most powerful streams of water. The people of Rouen made sacrifices to a fierce beast every year. The dragon's name was La Gargouille (feminine). The gargoyle committed its many atrocities until a knight in shining armor, Saint Roman, pacified her.

Saint Roman was the real bishop of Rouen, he zealously fought against paganism, lived until about 640, during the time of the king of the Franks and Burgundians Dagobert I / Dagobert I (born around 608 - d. 639). Roman's miracle about the gargoyle (serpent) is one of the exploits of the saint.

Although, strange he was a saint, if you look at it with a fresh eye ...

He pacified the Gargoyle in this way:

Saint Roman used the criminal as bait, sending him to the monster's lair. The gargoyle, sensing the human spirit, left its cave to profit from the guest. However, Saint Roman, with the help of prayers and the holy cross, deprived the dragon of his will. The gargoyle obediently lay down at the saint's feet.

The bishop led the defeated beast into the city, and what do you think? Sent to a local zoo? But no. The joyful inhabitants of Rouen immediately built a huge bonfire and roasted the animal ... :(

The body and tail of the gargoyle burned out, but the fire could not destroy its throat. The pharynx proved to be heat-resistant due to the regular eruption of fire during previously committed disgraces. Then the wise Rouen decided to save the head of the gargoyle for the edification of other dragons. Or maybe it was the order of the bishop - now you can't figure it out. Gargoyles remnants - a head with a throat was attached to the Rouen cathedral in order to clearly show the evil spirits what happens to those who harm people ...

There is a rather interesting set of chimeras at the Milan Cathedral - there, Renaissance thinkers stand next to these strange creatures from the imagination of madmen. These chimeras on the rooftops of cathedrals and other buildings represented those who underestimate the power of the devil. Although the devil cannot create life, he can mix different life forms to get a new one - that is, a chimera. ()

It looked something like this, probably ... :)

or like this:

From the 11th century, images of terrible gargoyles began to be carved from stone on the outer walls of Romanesque and Gothic buildings. Whether the sculptures of gargoyles were made before is not known, since before that a tree was used for such purposes, which had no chance to survive until the time of scientific description.

This gargoyle in the photo is located in the Cathedral Basilica of Van Saint-Jan.

On the walls of the Cathedral of St. Vitus in Prague there are several rather scary gargoyles, only these are no longer animals and not even chimeras. These are people. The moment of damnation is frozen in time for hundreds of medieval souls across Europe.

Opening their mouths, they scream through the centuries, constantly reminding you that you need to be able to resist the devil, otherwise it can happen to you! Perhaps the creepiest gargoyles are the ones that remind us of ourselves.

This terrifying example of the human form in the depiction of gargoyles is also found at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Moreover, the pipe through which water flows down so ominously sticks out of the mouth that it seems that it is just an inhumanly long tongue. (with)

The most famous gargoyles of all times and peoples live at Notre Dame Cathedral, kanesh, even the Walt Disney studio could not pass them by .. :)

As I already mentioned, usually the gargoyles on the facades of Gothic temples are positioned so that rainwater flows from the roofs through their mouths.

But one of the gargoyles of Freiburg Münster, on the contrary, is holding hands and feet against the wall, and water pours out through its anus.

According to urban legend, during the construction of this cathedral, the city council raised the requirements for bricklayers without increasing wages. The masons did the job, but placed this defecating sculpture in front of the windows of the city hall.

A trifle, as they say, but nice ...)

Briefly about the article: Ugly figures sitting on the cornices of cathedrals. Ominous shadows lurking in the depths of the church choirs. Eerie inhabitants of medieval bestiaries. European church architecture of the 12-15th centuries gave birth to many strange creatures, the appearance of which speaks of the unhealthy, but, undoubtedly, generous imagination of the ancient architects. These stone, metal and wooden monsters are the few representatives of the medieval menagerie of non-existent monsters that can rightfully be called "Gothic" ...

Horror frozen in stone

Medieval Gothic Monsters

In its diversity, the world of fantastic creatures should have surpassed the real one, because a fantastic monster is just a combination of elements found in living beings, and the number of such combinations is almost infinite. We could have produced countless creatures made from fish, birds and reptiles. We would be limited by only two feelings - satiety and disgust. The total number of monsters is large, but very few can affect the imagination. The fauna of human fantasy is much poorer than the fauna of God's world.

J.L. Borges. "Book of Fictional Creatures"

Ugly figures sitting on the cornices of cathedrals. Ominous shadows lurking in the depths of the church choirs. Eerie inhabitants of medieval bestiaries. European church architecture of the 12-15th centuries gave birth to many strange creatures, the appearance of which speaks of the unhealthy, but, undoubtedly, generous imagination of the ancient architects. These stone, metal and wooden monsters are the few representatives of the medieval menagerie of non-existent monsters that can rightfully be called "Gothic".

These days the word "gothic" is usually associated either with gloomy young people in black clothes who regularly visit old cemeteries and quote Edgar Poe by heart, or with these same guys standing on the stage of some basement rock club and treating their listeners with a mixture from Bach's cantatas and “confusion instead of music”. Should I say that such ideas about "Gothic" are, to put it mildly, wrong?

The term "gothic" (from Italian. gotico - “Gothic”) Is formed from the name of the Germanic tribe Goths. It was introduced into everyday life by the Italian humanists of the Renaissance and was used by the latter to denote all medieval art, which was considered "barbaric" at that time.

The Gothic style developed on the basis of the Catholic Church, and therefore was cult in its purpose and religious in theme. Gothic was directly related to eternity (with higher, irrational forces), establishing the undivided domination of architecture in the art system. Sculpture and painting (represented mainly by stained-glass windows) served only as an applied means of implementing architectural ideas. The powerful energy of the Gothic cathedrals - huge, majestic, aspiring to the sky - has a strong emotional impact on people to this day. The most important role in creating such a formidable atmosphere is played by Gothic monsters - creatures that are far from angelic, who, oddly enough, quite harmoniously fit into the society of saints and great martyrs who make up the luxurious church interior.

Chimera and her kin

The most popular Gothic monsters are gargoyles (French gargouille, English gargoyle - from Late Latin gargulio - throat) and chimera. They are often confused with the term chimeras of gargoyles and vice versa. The distinction between them is rather arbitrary, but it hides in itself some very curious secrets of the origin of these classic representatives of the Gothic bestiary.

First of all, it should be noted that "chimera" in this context does not mean the legendary monster from ancient Greek mythology, but rather the well-known principle of creating fantastic creatures by connecting body parts of any animals dissimilar to each other into one whole. This principle was first applied in mythology. The most famous mention of the Chimera is found in the sixth canto of the Iliad. It describes a fire-breathing creature - the daughter of Echidna and Typhon, who had the body of a goat, the tail of a snake, and the front part, like that of a lion. According to the predestination of the gods, the Chimera was killed by the handsome Bellerophon, the son of Glaucus.

"Theogony" of Hesiod speaks of the presence of not one, but three whole heads in the Chimera. It was in this form that she was captured on the famous Etruscan statue from Arezzo (IV century): in the middle of the ridge she has a goat's head, on one side of the body - a snake, and on the other - a lion.

In addition, the Chimera is mentioned in the seventh canto of Virgil's Aeneid. Commentator Servius Honorat put forward a hypothesis according to which "chimera" is a metaphor for the eponymous volcano in Lycia - snakes live at its base, goats graze on the slopes, and a fire is burning above, and there is probably a den of lions. Plutarch suggested that the Chimera is the name of a certain pirate, on whose ship (obviously, the board or sails were meant) a lion, a goat and a snake were painted.

Gothic chimeras are completely different from their many-sided ancient Greek prototype. They have gained worldwide fame for the statues of humanoid figures with bat wings, goat horns or snake heads, swan necks or eagle claws, installed at the foot of the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral. The ancient Greeks believed that the Chimera caused storms, dangers on land and at sea. Medieval architects departed from the chthonic essence of this monster, using the chimera as an allegorical embodiment of human sins (fallen souls who were forbidden to enter the church and who were turned to stone for all their earthly sins).

In the allegorical sense of the word, the term "chimera" is used to denote a false idea, empty fiction, as well as any fantastic hybrid creature.

A gothic chimera is no different from a gargoyle (gargoyle) - the same ugly creature with the body of a monkey (or hunchback man), goat horns, bat wings, etc. animal body parts. To designate such a monster, we most often use the term "gargoyle", but it would not be entirely correct to identify these two monsters. From a practical point of view, a gargoyle is a special element of architectural design, designed to perform not only artistic, but also quite everyday functions. Gargoyles cover the elongated gutters of the Gothic cathedral (or they themselves act as such, removing sedimentary moisture from the mouth - remember the Latin etymology of the word “gargoyle”), thanks to which rainwater pours onto the ground at a certain distance from the foundation of the building and does not wash it away. In other words, gargoyles are a drainage, designed in the form of some grotesque figure.

For convenience, in this article we will refer to the aforementioned creatures as "gargoyles", and not in any other way.

Gargoyles right and left

Despite the fact that gargoyles are typical Gothic monsters, their own origins go back centuries - to ancient Greece and Egypt.

The civilization of ancient Egypt knew a record number of zoomorphic gods for those times, and the Egyptians were among the first peoples who began to actively use the images of such creatures in painting and architecture.

Greek mythology also actively exploited stories about various hybrid creatures (which, unlike the characters of Egyptian beliefs, did not have the status of higher deities). It was said about the Chimera earlier, and besides her, it is also appropriate here to recall harpies, centaurs and griffins (vultures). The statues of the latter adorned the roofs of Greek vaults and even simple houses - after all, it was believed that the vultures were guarding the legendary gold of Zeus in Scythia (the territory of the northern Black Sea region) from the Arimaspians - lively one-eyed people who were constantly trying to steal it.

Gutters, as an element of the construction of houses in ancient Greece, were rare, however, if they did not go out at the corners of the roof, but under it (in the middle of the wall), then the drain was made in the form of a stone lion's head with an open mouth (later the lion became one from the components of the gargoyle image). This symbolized the power of Greece, protected the inhabitants of the house from enemies and scared away evil spirits.

The construction of Gothic cathedrals has been going on for many generations. Therefore, today it is rather difficult for us to determine the exact age of gargoyles. The gutters were often made of wood - they collapsed and required the dismantling of their sculptural details, which also did not bring any clarity to the question of the date when the gargoyles were born. With a fair amount of confidence, we can assume that the first gargoyles (in their textbook version) appeared by the beginning of the 12th century.

There is not a single gargoyle in the world that would be similar to another - after all, sculptors enjoyed complete freedom in choosing zoological prototypes for the sculpture of another monster. Throughout the entire Gothic period of the history of European culture, the appearance of gargoyles was very diverse. Initially, they were very modest in size, and animal features dominated in their appearance. By the 13th century, gargoyles became larger (up to one meter in length) and more humanoid. The fourteenth century was marked for them by an increase in the number of small details - gargoyles became more graceful and lighter, but the proportion of grotesque and caricature in such sculptures increased markedly. In the 15th century, gargoyles lost some of their demonism, compensating for this loss with the general expressiveness of facial expressions and a wide variety of poses. The evolution of the Gothic style in art led to the fact that gargoyles gradually went beyond the framework of religious themes, and by the 16th century they were turning into ordinary stone monsters - repulsive, but almost not scary for the average man in the street.

It should be admitted that the question of the real purpose of the gargoyle statues is still open, because, with the exception of a number of indisputable cases, we cannot say for sure whether rainwater really poured out of their mouths.

The population of medieval Europe was predominantly illiterate, so it is quite possible that gargoyles, along with other sculptural compositions, played the role of a visual teaching aid (a kind of comics) on the basics of religion and mysticism. Against this theory, there are frequent cases of installing gargoyles on secular buildings, as well as the fact that the considerable height of the Gothic cathedrals did not allow people to see all the richness of their outdoor decor from the ground.

The assumptions according to which the gargoyles, following their ancient Greek origin, performed the duties of protecting the house from evil spirits, seem to be quite reasonable. This may explain their rare ugliness - stone idols either scared away the forces of darkness, or made them think that this building was already occupied by other hellish creatures.

In addition, Francis Bly Bond - an English architectural historian - expressed the idea that cathedral gargoyles could be a kind of "servants" of the church - devilish creatures who saw the power of the Lord and went over to his side.

The Legend of the Green Man

Another typical Gothic creature is the Green Man (a term coined by the folklorist Lady Raglan in 1939). Usually he is depicted in the form of a man's head surrounded by leaves (however, it happens that the whole head is made of them).

This overtly pagan decoration of Gothic cathedrals dates back to the eleventh century.

The Green Man (aka Green Jack) was a tree spirit - an archaic forest deity living in oaks (the oldest statues of the Green Man were framed in oak leaves). For pre-Christian Europe, this creature served as a symbol of abundance, personifying the harmony of nature and people. During the Gothic period, the Green Man was considered the embodiment of lust (possibly other deadly sins), or, according to some researchers, functioned like gargoyles, providing magical protection for medieval houses.

The latter is supported by a little-known Celtic custom, according to which the bodies of warriors who died in battle were decapitated, and their heads were mounted on poles and exhibited around the village in order to scare away evil spirits. At the same time, the heads of especially outstanding warriors were decorated with wreaths of leaves.

During the May Day celebrations (immediately after Beltane, which was held on the night of April 30 to May 1), the May Queen procession was led by dancers dressed in costumes of green leaves.

Old English legends also mention the Green Man, calling him “The Barley God” (after his death he was reborn as a tree that grew right from his head). Even in the legends of King Arthur, one can find direct analogies of the Green Man - for example, the poem about Sir Gawaine (Arthur's nephew) and the mysterious Green Knight tells about how Gawaine cut off the head of the Green Knight, but the latter put it in place - and she immediately grew to torso.

Gothic zoo

Speaking about the divine patron of animals, it should be noted that the traditions of ancient “chimerical” hybridization sometimes overlap with Christian dogma. For example, three of the four evangelists were associated with animals: John - the eagle, Luke - the bull, and Mark - the lion (the angel was the symbol of Matthew).

Among all real animals, the lion was the most popular in the Gothic bestiaries. The image of this creature once served as a metaphor for the praise of the Assyrian and Persian kings. The Christian Church inherited this tradition, identifying the lion with Christ - “the king of the Jews”.

Theologians compared the lion, which supposedly covered its tracks with its tail, with the Savior, who wanders invisibly among people. It was believed that if a lioness gives birth to dead lion cubs, then in three days the lion father will come to them and revive them. Another common belief was that a sick lion could be healed by eating a monkey (the personification of evil in early Christian symbolism). And finally, people believed that the lion always sleeps with open eyes, representing an example of vigilance and caution - that is why lion statues guarded monuments, graves and church entrances, and also held door handles in their teeth.

However, the Gothic lion could also mean something negative. So, if a lion's head decorated door sills, or held a lamb in its teeth, such a “king of beasts” was the embodiment of wild malice (in certain cases - pride, one of the deadly sins).

Other symbolic animals from the Gothic bestiary are the ram (the shepherd leading the flock), the dog (devotion), the fox (cunning, skill, less often death), monkeys (the fall of man), the goat (omniscience) and the goat (carnal sin).

Gargoyle games

The gargoyle is present in many books, games (computer, desktop, role-playing) and fantasy films - from Harry Potter and Warcraft III to Dungeons & Dragons and Ultima Online.

Among this variety, it is worth highlighting the gargoyles from the most famous role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. There they are described as intelligent winged predators with pronounced sadistic tendencies. These living stone statues can remain immobile for long periods of time, confusing even the most vigilant adventurers. They do not need food, water or air, but they love to devour living flesh - just for fun and to inflict pain on a living creature. Gargoyles spend all their free time looking for prey or starting fights with each other.

An early version of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules stated that gargoyles are most often found in ruins of old buildings or underground caverns. These creatures plundered the corpses of their victims and dragged the gold to their lair, putting it in a secluded place (usually under a stone). The horn of the gargoyle was an essential ingredient in an invulnerability potion and was often used in a flight potion.

The second edition of Dungeons & Dragons also mentioned another species of gargoyles - the margoils, the largest, fearsome and dangerous species of these stone monsters.

In addition, a close relative of the gargoyle in Dungeons & Dragons is the capoacinth, which is like two peas in a pod, but lives not on land, but in water.

Cinematography quite actively exploits the image of a gargoyle, but its presence on the screen in 99% of cases is reduced to playing the role of an ordinary Gothic decoration. This monster rarely acts as a living creature - the protagonist of the main characters. So, in 1972 and 2004, two low-budget films with the same title - "Gargoyles" were shot. Their plot was outrageously simple - stone Gothic creatures suddenly come to life and begin to bite people in different places.

Leaving aside such an obvious artistic primitive, one cannot fail to note the quite high-quality animated series "Gargoyles" (directed by Saburo Hashimoto), released between 1994 and 1997, which showed these winged Gothic monsters in a completely different light. Gargoyles were a sentient race of winged warriors, one of whose clans once guarded the old Scottish castle at night. In exchange, the inhabitants of the castle protected their petrified bodies during the day. However, soon people betrayed the gargoyles and destroyed most of them - only six young individuals survived, turned into a lifeless stone. After this story, a vague prophecy remained, according to which the enchanted gargoyles will wake up only when their castle "rises above the clouds." Centuries have passed. In 1994, a multi-billionaire named David Xanatos bought an abandoned Scottish castle, moved it entirely to Manhattan, and installed it on a skyscraper ...

The life of dead monsters

Gargoyles, chimeras and other inhabitants of the dark nooks and crannies of Gothic culture were born by the human mind, trying to put the reckless luxury of the animal world at the service of church canons. Unfortunately, the creatures created by the means of obscuration, irrationalism and cold clerical pragmatism turned out to be completely unviable. To become alive, they were too heterogeneous - after all, from a lion, a goat, a snake, a dog and a man it is not at all so easy to make a single beast.

But, even having understood all the ephemerality of such monsters, people did not cease to be afraid of them. We look at gargoyles with fear, because we know that in a certain sense, they are ourselves, and vice versa. Stone statues, which seem completely lifeless in the daylight, are no longer so with the onset of night - the usual gray figure turns into something mysterious, frightening and almost animate.

The origin of the gargoyles

There is an interesting legend about the origin of gargoyles, the plot basis for which was the practice of using these monsters in Gothic architecture. Around 600 A.D. a dragon named La Gargole settled near the river Seine. He swallowed whole ships, scorched the forest with his fiery breath and spewed out so much water that the nearest villages perished from the floods. Finally, the people of Rouen decided to propitiate the dragon with annual sacrifices. Although La Gargoyle, like any other dragon, preferred virgins, the cunning French managed to slip criminals on him. This went on for many years, until one day the priest Romanus came to Rouen. Upon learning of the insatiable dragon, the priest made a deal with the Rouenians: in exchange for getting rid of La Gargole, they would have to convert to Christianity and build a church in the village. The battle of Romanus with the insolent lizard ended quite successfully - with the help of the holy cross, the priest threw this creature to the ground, and the locals surrounded the dragon's body with brushwood and burned it to the ground. However, La Gargole's neck and head did not succumb to the flame - after all, they were tempered by his fiery breath. After some time, the unburned remains of the monster were displayed on the roof of the built church in memory of the glorious deed of Romanus.

All sorts of fantastic sculptural images that adorn the facades of majestic cathedrals occupy a special place in historical European architecture. Stone guards look at the changing face of the city, and it seems that they know some secret. Why did these creatures become the objects of inspiration for sculptors and architects? Not everyone knows, but the gargoyle is not just a grotesque figment of the creative imagination, but a real symbol of culture with deep historical roots.

Legendary monster from the Seine

Medieval France was distinguished by an abundance of stories about monsters that lived in a particular area. The so-called local mythology has had a serious impact on culture and art, and the legend of the gigantic snake from the lower reaches of the Seine is considered one of the key ones.

In the 7th century, ships heading upward in many suffered disasters, allegedly due to the attacks of a monster called La Gargouille. The dragon, similar to a huge snake, drowned ships, casting jets of water on them, luring them into whirlpools. Some sources report that the gargoyle is also a fire-breathing snake. Saint Roman, who was at that time the bishop of the city of Rouen, heeded the pleas of the people and went to tame the monster.

The inhabitants, overwhelmed by fear, could not find the strength to help the priest, only a criminal condemned to death volunteered and agreed to become a bait. However, the bishop, armed only with the holy cross and prayers, pacified the dragon. Subsequently, the inhabitants burned the monster at the stake, it was not possible to burn only the head and throat. This part was strengthened for the edification of evil spirits.

Etymology of the name and correct spelling

Numerous water dragons in France bore similar names, in which, one way or another, the original word gorge (pharynx) or garg (from the verb gargarizare) was played on. Several sources trace the origin from the Greek "gorgon". In any case, a gargoyle is a kind of monster with a greedy throat, ready to devour unwary sailors or boatmen, and together with water.

In Russian, they write both "gargoyle" and "gargoyle" or "gargoyle". The semantic division is known to few, and it is rather vague. In most cases, the first option refers to mythological monsters of all kinds of configurations, and the second and third options are in the form of grotesque sculptural designs of weirs.

Gargoyle in architecture

The utilitarian purpose of the stone monster on the rooftops of ancient cathedrals is actually quite far from religion. This is an artistic element designed to decorate and partly disguise a complex system of cascading weirs. Basically, a gargoyle is a downspout that directs precipitation to a gutter below, which will carry water into the next pipe.

If, at the same time, the cathedral is just sticking out with protruding pipes, its appearance can hardly be considered a work of architectural art. Gargoyles are more than just sculptures and a successful attempt to camouflage something as mundane and practical as a gutter. It is also a decoration that carries a distinct ritual meaning, awakening awe in the parishioners.

Sculptures of monsters

The most interesting thing about gargoyles is their diversity, which has long gone beyond the narrow zoological image of a snake-like dragon. The majestic buildings are decorated with no less impressive fantastic statues, among which you can see not only dragons, but also unknown monsters, strange people, characters of legends and tales, and some of them even had real prototypes.

The most famous gargoyle, a photo of which has been widely circulated on the Internet, is actually a chimera. This is not a drain, but one of the characters in the so-called gallery of chimeras at the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. This is the Owl, which is sometimes called the Thinker due to its characteristic brooding posture.

Gargoyles and chimeras are often confused in the minds of people, and they are mistakenly attributed to the same type of monster. Over time, the boundaries between species have really blurred, and now these concepts are even used as synonyms, which in the academic sense, of course, is wrong.

Gargoyles metamorphoses

Initially, gargoyles were exclusively called gigantic dragon snakes, which migrated from mythology to the category of architectural elements. But the gutters were also shaped by other images: grotesque characters depicting sinners and devils in hell, lions and other animals. By and large, any object of gutter design can be considered a gargoyle - from a frog to a monk.

The chimera is an alien from Greek mythology, as was the name of the monster, whose body consisted of parts of a lion, a goat and a snake. The head, paws and torso are lion's, from there a goat's neck with a horned head grows, and instead of a tail - a snake, which, according to various sources, strikes with poison or breathes flame.

Over time, chimeras "acquired" parts of other animals: bat wings, a monkey's face, hair or scales at the discretion of the author. A chimera is something that cannot exist, is illogical and monstrous. Unsurprisingly, the gargoyle falls into the same category. Only a few centuries have passed, and the names have imperceptibly merged.

Modern gargoyles

It is interesting that the very word "gargoyle" has not disappeared in the mists of time. Films and animation films are made about them, books are written, used as supporting characters, and also as game units in numerous computer games. The gargoyle, a photo of which previously could only be seen as a reference to Notre-Dame de Paris, is an artistic image beloved by many architects.

In Kiev, there is a rather famous House with Chimeras, decorated with images of all kinds of monsters. Many sculptural monsters nest in St. Petersburg, for example, in Kuznechny Lane.

Gargoyles are attributed to a quarrelsome grumpy character, this word can be used as an insult or a derisive nickname for a woman with character. In the TV series "Interns", Dr. Bykov calls the chief doctor of the clinic this way

Nowadays, gargoyles are most often presented as some kind of demons with leathery wings, it is in this form that they appear in computer games and films. They are also credited with the ability to turn into stone and come to life again. However, do not forget that it all started with a gigantic snake supposedly living in the lower reaches of the Seine River.