Gargoyles have stood watch over secular and sacred buildings for many hundreds of years. Infernal monsters, grotesque images, mocking faces, warding off unwanted spirits.

According to the legend, a fierce dragon named La Gargouille described as having a long, reptilian neck, a slender snout and membranous wings lived in a cave near the river Seine. The dragon caused much fear and destruction with its fiery breath, spouting water and the devouring of ships and men. Each year, the residents of Rouen would placate Gargouille with an offering of a victim, usually a criminal. Around 600, the village was saved by St. Romanis, who promised to deal with the dragon if the townspeople agreed to be baptized and to build a church. Romanus subdued the dragon by making the sign of the cross and then led the now docile beast back to town on a leash made from his priest's robe. La Gargouille was then burned at the stake, it is said that his head and neck were so well tempered by the heat of his fiery breath, that they would not burn. These remnants were then mounted on the town wall and became the model for gargoyles for centuries to come.

This legend, more charming than credible, comes to explain the origin of the word gargoyle as a synonym of a water spout, ... projecting from a gutter and intended to throw the water away from the walls and foundations, protecting the mortar and the stones of the building from erosion. A gargoyle is a carving that covers the drainage system of a building

 

Although they are a common feature of the late Romanesque and the Gothic period, gargoyles appear throughout architectural history starting in Ancient Greece and Egypt until today. The Egyptians were the first to depict grotesque figures in their architecture and wall paintings. The Greeks incorporated these deities and ideas of hybrid creatures in their beliefs. Terra cotta water spouts were even found at the ruins of Pompeii.

In the Gothic era, the functions of gargoyles were manifold: to serve the physical function of running the rainwater away from the walls and foundations of buildings (were the preferred method of drainage), and the spiritual function of protecting from evil forces, keeping evil away from the buildings and their occupants.

The term "gargoyle" was derived from French gargouille meaning 'throat' and Latin gurgulio meaning 'gullet'.

One of the most notable examples of Gothic architecture that incorporated many gargoyles and grotesques is Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris. It is interesting to note, that; once lead drainpipes were introduced in the 16th century there was no longer any practical need for gargoyles. However, architects and builders continued to incorporate them into their building designs, but now gargoyles served only symbolic, spiritual, religious, decorative or whimsical purposes.