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Opened in 1881, the Natural History Museum is one of the UK's most famous museums. A terracotta Palaeotherium (ancient Greek for "old beast") gargoyle guards the eastern side of the building's facade.
The Notre Dame chimera are among the most famous grotesques in the world. Fortunately, they were among some of the most iconic artifacts to survive the devasting fire of 2019.
The largest neo-Gothic basilica in the Americas, the Basilica of the National Vow is located in the historic center of Quito, in Ecuador. Most of the gargoyles decorating the facade represent animals endemic to the nation, including iguanas, tortoises, armadillos, and condors. However, there are some fanciful winged exceptions. The basilica is still technically unfinished. Local legend suggests that the world will end if it's ever completed.
Over 1,000 white marble gargoyles set on and around the raised platform of the outer court guard Beijing's 15th-century Forbidden City—one of the most revered buildings in China.
The abbey perched on top of Mont Saint-Michel is bedecked with 16 gargoyles, including eight attached to the octagonal spire. When France freezes, so does the water draining from their spouts.
A gargoyle in the bizarre shape of a crying baby is seen clinging to one of the towers of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. In all, there are 112 gargoyles and grotesques set across the cathedral.
Ottawa's Peace Tower, the centerpiece of the Canadian parliament buildings, features grotesques at the corners of the structure. The entire complex has approximately 370 gargoyles, grotesques, and friezes decorating its facades.
The fierce and frightening-looking gargoyles of France's historic 13th-century Rheims Cathedral are mostly clustered along the building's highly ornate west facade.
Grotesques and gargoyles in the shape of medieval caricatures lend the exterior of Brasenose College—one of the historic colleges of the University of Oxford in England—quirky character.
One of England's most celebrated places of worship, Winchester Cathedral delights anybody peering up at its front elevation with a series of peasant folk grotesques, some clutching dragon-like pets.
An abundance of bizarre and slightly sinister-looking gargoyles and mystical figures decorate one of Norway's most famous churches.
The Spanish Balearic Island of Palma is far more than sun, sea, and sand. Its cathedral, completed in 1601, is a top tourist destination—and so are the bearded gargoyles with feathered wings.
University of Oxford dates back to the 10th century. Magdalen College was founded in 1498, when this grotesque was set to greet the first intake of students.
Despite its foundations being severely shaken by two earthquakes, the first in 1880 and the second as recently as 2020, Zagreb Cathedral in Croatia still stands tall. But its chimera look set to take flight at any moment.
The former Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau in the Catalonian capital has been heavily restored. But the devil-like grotesques gripping its brick walls have lost none of their fearsome character.
Great Britain's most recognized abbey church is a marvel of Gothic architecture. In 2022, Time Out magazine asked Londoners to name this cheeky rotund gargoyle. Suggestions included "Gargoyley McGargoyle-face" and, wait for it, "Boris."
The basilica in the small French village of L'Épine is where you'll find this humorous gargoyle, carved as a kneeling abbot laughing out loud.
Chester Cathedral in England features numerous figurines carved in stone and wood. One of the most familiar is this wretched-looking grotesque found fretting near the main portal.
One of the most famous architectural landmarks in the world, the mighty Chrysler Building is a Art Deco gem. Its wonders include the polished eagle gargoyles perched on their eyrie on the 61st floor.
Munich's New Town Hall dates back to 1906. Reflecting a Gothic Revival architectural style, the ornate facade positively dances with detail and includes this guitar-playing gargoyle.
Built in the 16th century to serve as a residence for the archbishops of Sens, Hôtel de Sens is blessed with flourishes of decorative detail, including this gaping mouthed gargoyle.
Listed as a historic monument, Saint Pierre's Church in Yvelines, Ile-de-France, is noted for its gargoyle styled as a lion-faced man with an elongated mane.
Look carefully for the crouching dragon about to leap off the walls of Saint-Honorat-des-Alyscamps Church, in the French city of Arles. It's a gargoyle effortlessly attached to the facade.
Designed in the Romanesque-style, Toronto's Old City Hall is a heritage landmark. Its clock tower is garnished by four gargoyles at the upper corners of the carved pink stone structure.
The lichen growing out of the eyes of this ancient chimera gives it quite a ghoulish complexion. It's found sitting on the decorated walls of Portugal's historic Convent of Christ, in the city of Tomar.
London's Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, is a national symbol of the United Kingdom. Scaling its lofty facade are a series of clawed and beaked granite chimera.
Meissen in Germany is the location of the Albrechtsburg, a 15th-century castle that's known for one particularly tormented-looking gargoyle.
Look closely at this lifelike grotesque set overhanging a wall of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral. At its feet lie wild boar. Clutching a horn, the figure supposedly represents the devil out hunting. Local Czech humor suggest that the sculptors responsible for the church's numerous gargoyles were inspired by their in-laws.
The description "grotesque" is truly apt for this agonized-looking chimera gracing the stone door frame to the entrance of the Santa Maria Formosa Bell Tower in Venice, Italy.
Sources: (France 24) (Time Out) (University of Oxford)
See also: It's time to meet the most amazing clock towers in the world
Altogether, Cologne Cathedral has an impressive 108 gargoyles that were made in a 800-years-period from the 13th to the 20th centuries.
Derived from the Old French gargouille, meaning "throat," the term gargoyle was first used to describe carved lions and spouts on ancient classical buildings. Gargoyles were designed to carry rainwater away from a building to protect the masonry from water damage. Today, a gargoyle's function remains exactly that. Chimera or grotesques, on the other hand, are ornamental-only sculptures. What they have in common, though, is that these Gothic-era effigies represent some of the ugliest and most bizarrely formed works of art ever created. Indeed, a few are truly disturbing in their appearance.
They are typically found on the facades of churches and cathedrals, but can also be admired—or disliked—on the walls of universities, clock towers, and other civic buildings. So, where in the world can you see the wackiest, weirdest, and most alarming examples of this often devilish artform?
Click through and come face to face with some mystical and sometimes sinister-looking sculptures.
Gargoyles and other grotesques in architecture
Ghoulish and mystical sculptures that disturb and delight
LIFESTYLE Design
Derived from the Old French gargouille, meaning "throat," the term gargoyle was first used to describe carved lions and spouts on ancient classical buildings. Gargoyles were designed to carry rainwater away from a building to protect the masonry from water damage. Today, a gargoyle's function remains exactly that. Chimera or grotesques, on the other hand, are ornamental-only sculptures. What they have in common, though, is that these Gothic-era effigies represent some of the ugliest and most bizarrely formed works of art ever created. Indeed, a few are truly disturbing in their appearance.
They are typically found on the facades of churches and cathedrals, but can also be admired—or disliked—on the walls of universities, clock towers, and other civic buildings. So, where in the world can you see the wackiest, weirdest, and most alarming examples of this often devilish artform?
Click through and come face to face with some mystical and sometimes sinister-looking sculptures.