Gargoyles and Grotesques: Unusual Stone Figures on Buildings Around the World
Travel and curiosity website Atlas Obscura has compiled a list of unusual gargoyles and grotesques. They include a Darth Vader carving at Washington's National Cathedral and Kyiv's House with Chimaeras.
Atlas Obscura, a website covering travel and unusual places, has published a roundup of unconventional gargoyles and grotesques decorating buildings in several countries. Architects use such stone faces and creatures to make a building stand out and stay memorable for centuries.
What sets them apart
Both types are ornate stone figures carved into buildings. Gargoyles also work as waterspouts that drain rainwater off a structure, while grotesques are purely decorative.
Darth Vader in Washington
The National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., is the largest in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. Among its spires is a small carving of Darth Vader, the villain of the Star Wars film saga. When the cathedral was under construction in the 1980s, a design contest for schoolchildren was held, and the Vader design took third place, earning it a spot on the exterior. The figure can be seen from the northwest parking lot, near the top of the northwest tower, just above a large skull.
House with Chimaeras in Kyiv
The House with Chimaeras stands in Kyiv's historic Lypky neighborhood. Polish-Ukrainian architect Vladislav Gorodetsky, nicknamed the Gaudí of Ukraine, intended it as his permanent residence but had to leave when he ran out of money. The building is directly across from the Ukrainian president's office and has hosted diplomatic ceremonies since 2005. The source text breaks off while describing the house, so further details about its gargoyles are not available.
