Gargoyles were installed on old buildings to scare away evil spirits. I believe in many cases they represented the old nature gods of the pagans. The Catholic Church, ever handy at figuring out ways to bring pagans into the fold, put them on their grand edifices, as if to say, yes, your old gods have a place here. read more
The term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages, some means of water diversion, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted. In Ancient Egyptian architecture, gargoyles showed little variation, typically in the form of a lion's head. read more