Whats the idea behind gargoyles on churches.?

Answer 1

Practically, they let water flow away from buildings, but Wiki gives this elaborate decription:


The term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages some means of throwing the water off roofs, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted. In Egypt gargoyles ejected the water used in the washing of the sacred vessels which seems to have been done on the flat roofs of the temples. In Greek temples, the water from roofs passed through the mouths of lions whose heads were carved or modelled in the marble or terra cotta cymatium of the cornice. At Pompeii many terra cotta gargoyles were found that are modelled in the shape of animals.
A local legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus ("Romain") (631 – 641 A.D.), the former chancellor of the Merovingian king Clotaire II who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille, having had the creature captured by a liberated prisoner. The gargoyle's grotesque form was said to scare off evil spirits so they were used for protection. In commemoration of St. Romain the Archbishops of Rouen were granted the right to set a prisoner free on the day that the reliquary of the saint was carried in procession (see details at Rouen).
Gargoyles, or more precisely chimerae, were used as decoration on 19th and early 20th century buildings in cities such as New York (where the Chrysler Building's stainless steel gargoyles are celebrated), and Chicago. Gargoyles can be found on many churches and buildings.

Answer 2

In architecture, gargoyles (from the French gargouille, originally the throat or gullet, cf. Latin gurgulio, gula, and similar words derived from root gar, to swallow, the word representing the gurgling sound of water; Ital. doccione; Ger. Ausguss, Wasserspeier) are the carved terminations to spouts which convey water away from the sides of buildings.

Gargoyles are mostly grotesque figures. Statues representing gargoyle-like creatures are popular sales items, particularly in goth and New Age retail stores.

A similar type of sculpture that does not work as a waterspout and serves only an ornamental or artistic function is called a chimera, although these are popularly referred to as gargoyles also.


History

View of Paris from the Galerie des Chimères on Notre Dame cathedralThe term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages some means of throwing the water off roofs, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted. In Egypt gargoyles ejected the water used in the washing of the sacred vessels which seems to have been done on the flat roofs of the temples. In Greek temples, the water from roofs passed through the mouths of lions whose heads were carved or modelled in the marble or terra cotta cymatium of the cornice. At Pompeii many terra cotta gargoyles were found that are modelled in the shape of animals.

A local legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus ("Romain") (631 – 641 A.D.), the former chancellor of the Merovingian king Clotaire II who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille, having had the creature captured by a liberated prisoner. The gargoyle's grotesque form was said to scare off evil spirits so they were used for protection. In commemoration of St. Romain the Archbishops of Rouen were granted the right to set a prisoner free on the day that the reliquary of the saint was carried in procession (see details at Rouen).

Although most have grotesque features, the term gargoyle has come to include all types of images. Some gargoyles were depicted as monks, combinations of real animals and people, many of which were humorous. Unusual animal mixtures, or chimeras, did not act as rainspouts and are more properly called grotesques. They serve more as ornamentation, but are now synonymous with gargoyles.

Gargoyles, or more precisely chimerae, were used as decoration on 19th and early 20th century buildings in cities such as New York (where the Chrysler Building's stainless steel gargoyles are celebrated), and Chicago. Gargoyles can be found on many churches and buildings.

Answer 3

Yeah they scare Demons. But they have a practical use too. It where the water from the roof came out. Through the gargoyles mouth.

Answer 4

When asking "why are there gargoyles and what are they for", in my experience most people seem to mean the Medieval ones. So, this is what a distingushed Frenchman Emile Male and most critics after him said:

No symbolism can explain the monstrous fauna of the cathedrals...
If ever works are exempt of meaning surely these are...
All attempts at explanation must be foredoomed to failure.

E. Male, _L'art religieux du XIIIe siecle en France_ 8e edition p. 121, 124
So, studiously ignoring those words of wisdom, here are some possible explanations I've come across:

rainwater plumbing (this is certain but does not explain why so many are carved creatures, nor the various forms)
warding off evil - a "kiss my ***" keep away deterrent to demons
warding off evil - a "don't bother, we're here already doing demonic stuff" deterrent to demons
a reminder to parishioners of the perils of evil - bad guys are marginalised to the outside of the church (but why so high up and hard to see?)
as pagan symbols to encourage believers in pre-Christian ways to come to church (make them feel welcomed or at home, as it were)
decoration (but why so ugly? why so hard to see)
a juxtaposition or balance of ugliness against the beauty inside the building (a very medieval concept which we find hard to understand these days)
insurance policy against building collapse, related to warding off evil (this one's obscure and I think it says more out modern interpretation of the medieval mind than architectural principles)
For some of the more interesting ones (mooning or nose picking or caricatures), they may possibly be:
symbolic object lessons on the perils of unconventionality
carved out of mischief (e.g. there are defecating gargoyles, these are generally difficult to see, being high up or in obscure parts of the building)
as retribution for not paying the stone carver (see Freiburg defecator)
fun (who knows what the medieval sense of humour was? see also a modern nose picker from Ely Cathedral
caricatures of people maybe local clergy, which may be mischief or fun or possibly honour.

Answer 5

Gargoyles are carved as grotesque and 'scary' creatures to ward off evil spirits.
But they are more useful as rain diverters-attached to spouts on a roof to throw off water from roofs and away from the walls of a building before the use of gutters although they are used now days even with gutters.

Answer 6

gargoyles were put on buildings to scare away demons and evil spirits can t say the worked so well when alot of the evil spirits went into the church and still sat in the pews

Answer 7

1. to keep rainwater from flowing down church walls
2. evil spirits were supposed to keep out of the "territory" of other evil spirits, thats why people still disguise themselves in that way at Halloween, as a protection from the spirits of the otherworld who were supposed to be loose at that time.

Answer 8

To ward off evil spirits and protect the people within

Answer 9

i think that they are there to ward off evil forces, kind of gods henchmen, but i think that when they were invented they must have scared the c^$P out of the religious people too!

Answer 10

They guard the church from demons.