3 ms·

Zero mention of gargoyles in an entire article about gothic architecture and horror?

• chromanoid 2y ago
  Yeah, I was wondering too. I mean those are meant to look scary.
  • AdmiralAsshat 2y ago
    Apotropaic architecture has a long history before Gothic architecture, though. See: the Gorgons on the Temple of Artemis at Corfu: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Gorgon_at_the_Corfu_Archaelogical_Museum.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Gorgon_a...
• deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
• prmoustache 2y ago
  That was my first reaction too. Gargoyles are here to inspire fear. Associate that to pointy stuff and yes a building becomes less welcoming.
• prewett 2y ago
  The gargolyes are on old churches because the church represents a microcosm of the world. On the edges of the world are the places and things we don't understand and cannot integrate into our lives (at least not yet), which is why medieval monsters are composed of pieces of different beings put together. The outside of the church represents the Chaos, the Wild. If I understand it correctly, inside, you have the entranceway, representing the process of coming to faith: inside the building, but not in the sanctuary, and it is where the catechumens (not yet baptized) originally departed to after the lessons and before the Eucharist. The sanctuary represents heaven, and the alter, slightly raised, represents the most holy place. The gargoyles are not to create fear, they are simply reminding people that as you enter the church you are going (symbolically) from chaos into the Kingdom of God, which is the process of the life of the Christian.