These Historical Photos Will Make You Wish You Could Turn Back Time

A Stone Carving Outside of Notre Dame

Taken in 1910 is a photo of one of the stone gargoyles sitting on top of Notre Dame de Paris. The famous cathedral was built in 1163 and these gargoyles were designed to act as a drainage system to prevent rain water from collecting on the rooftop. And Michael Camille, an art historian, shared their thoughts on the gargoyles and why they had to be replaced. “On medieval churches gargoyles rotted so quickly, if they did their job properly and carried off the water, that only a century or so after they were made they had to be replaced.”