The art of gargoyle is not only an artistic element on the buildings, especially churches, but also it has a practical usage. Gargoyles have a gothic style like grotesques. But unlike grotesques, gargoyles often have an open mouth to help drain away rainwater. A groove is cut along the top of the statue. When rain falls, it travels along this groove and falls through the gargoyle?s open mouth onto the roads below. Keeping the rain away from a building protects its stone walls, so they don?t start to wear away.

The Origin of The Word Gargoyle
Etymologically, the word gargoyle comes from the French ?gargouille?, which translates to word throat. Gargouille also relates to an old French legend. According to the tale, there was a dragon called La Gargouille with a long and twisted neck, a prominent mouth with powerful jaws, terrifying eyes, and enormous wings, who lived in a cave near the River Seine. It fed on humans and sowed chaos, panic, and destruction wherever it went, sinking boats, causing floods, and burning anything that stood in their way. The people were frightened by its presence. The inhabitants of Rouen offered it a human sacrifice every year to placate its anger. By the year 600, a Christian priest named Romanus reached Rouen and offered to deliver the people from the dragon in exchange for their converting to Christianity and building a church. Finally, La Gargouille was burnt at the stake, with its head and neck hung at the village entrance as a warning and re...