HD photographs of the Chimera statues on Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris - Page 217



This time we thought it would be a good idea to show some pictures of the Chimera statues on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, as many people get these sculptures mixed up with the more well known Gargoyle statues on this historical church.

Paris Statues

- <<  Previous  211  212  213  214  215  216  217  218  219  220  Next  >>
Notre Dames Chimera statues
Many people get mixed up between a Chimera and a Gargoyle, as they are entirely different, although both are known as grotesques that are designed to ward off evil spirits, and in this image you can see some of the Chimeras located on the balcony of Notre Dame Cathedral, which are purely for decoration, yet below is a Gargoyle.
Grotesques or Chimera statues on Notre Dame in Paris
Here you can see some more Chimeras, which is sometimes spelt Chimaeras, and these are located on what is called The Chimera Balcony on the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, with the best views being if you can climb the stairs on a tower visit, but this photo was taken from below.
Notre Dames Chimera statues from 1845-1870
This is a closer view showing some of the Chimera on Notre Dame, and these were only put in place during the major restoration of the Gothic cathedral by Eugene Viollet Le Duc between the years 1845 and 1870.
Notre Dames guardian demons or Chimeras
In this close up photo, you can see that each Chimera is different, and in Greek mythology these were creatures that had different parts to them such as goat, lion, snake, bird, etc, and these guardian demons, referred to as grotesques look out over the city of Paris and have no purpose other than to make worshippers feel safe and protected in years gone by.
Notre Dames south tower with Chimera statues
And in this photo you can see the top part of the south tower of Notre Dame de Paris cathedral with the Chimera on the balcony, and as you can tell, these are very hard to see with the naked eye, so binoculars are a good option, but the Gargoyles are also shown in this image and these have the purpose of shedding water away from the building.

Paris Statues - <<  Previous  211  212  213  214  215  216  217  218  219  220  Next  >>

If you would like to use any of these photos for non commercial use we only ask that you please do include recognition to ourselves "eutouring.com", but if you are not sure with regards to usage, please contact us.