Gargoyles, as you know, are carved stone figures used to convey water off a roof, through a spout, and generally out the mouth of the figure to avoid water damage to roof and walls of the building. Often referred to as grotesgues, they are, in fact, usually quite grotesgue. They are pretty common in this part of the world, especially on churches, where they seem to be de rigueur, and often on public buildings as well. Not so many back in the US where our buildings are not of gothic age and where perhaps our mind set goes to a sparer, cleaner, more utilitarian functionality anyway. Below are a few we saw in Portugal, including some at work, due to the rainy weather we experienced in northern Portugal.
The comparatively harmless looking fellows above were on the Mosterio dos Jeronimos cloister in Lisbon.
These two guys show a bit more attitude - they were at the Museu Nacional do Azulejo, also in Lisbon.
The snarling guy on the left was on the roof of the Pena Palace in Sintra. His companionon here on the right was at work on the roof of the Museu Arquelogico, a converted convent in Faro.
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| Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra, of which Nancy wrote previously, with its extensive grounds and gothic-baroque buildings provided a lot of options for this blog - here an additional example. |
The guy on the left was spitting rain water when we visited the Coimbra University library - rainy days have their blessings.
And the two above along with the one on the right were working at the Porto Cathedral cloister when we visited there during what turned into a heavy downpour. It was nice to be inside and dry, watching these old guys hard at work.
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| Okay, not a gargoyle. But isn't it nice to end with such a sweet looking creature? (Palacio Nacional de Sintra) |
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