COVINGTON, KY– Gargoyles have watched over this small Kentucky town for more than a century from their lofty perches in a cathedral known as “America’s Notre Dame.” The new renovation will ensure they retain their positions for years to come on the meticulously restored façade of the towering stone temple.
Workers in recent weeks installed new terracotta gargoyles as one of the final steps of a major two-year restoration of the Basilica of the Assumption Cathedral. The nickname Catholic Cathedral stems from how its exterior is modeled on the larger style Notre Dame Cathedral In Paris – from the pointed arches and flying buttresses to the gargoyles and chimeras with their reptilian smiles and piercing, canine eyes.
Unlike the Paris landmark that recently underwent a massive renovation due to A A sudden and devastating fireCovington Cathedral was in need of rehabilitation due to the slow deterioration of ancient stone, metal and clay after 125 years of exposure to the elements in its city on the Ohio River across from Cincinnati.
Dean of Assumption Church, the Reverend Ryan Maher, said: “We consider ourselves fortunate to be able to ensure interest in the cathedral for generations to come.”
Workers have repaired and replaced tons of limestone in Indiana. The new gargoyles are exact replicas based on careful scans of the 32 worn originals.
Workers aim to complete the two-year restoration process by March. The final touch will be the installation of 26 new chimeras along the roof. These hideous creatures, which resemble gargoyles, are exact copies of their surviving ancestors.
“It’s hard to believe you can replicate a piece that was built a hundred years ago by men who are no longer with us,” said Brian Walter, executive vice president of Trisco Systems, the prime contractor for the restoration.
Workers faced many challenges throughout the project: lifting and installing heavy stones on the facade while operating cranes over a busy street in the heat, cold and wind. They corrected and repaired what they could and completely replaced other parts.
“It’s an art and science that’s passed down from generation to generation,” Walter said. “Every part of it is a challenge.”
These challenges began long before the materials arrived at the cathedral, for a project involving architects, stonecutters, clay artists and others.
Workers carefully scanned the deteriorated capitals, arches, balustrades, and other architectural elements so that stonecutters could make exact matches. Organizers obtained the stone from Bedford, Indiana, where the limestone for the original cathedral was quarried.
Over the generations, the cathedral has undergone numerous renovations and repairs, with the exterior statues added in 2019.
But Maher realized a comprehensive exterior renovation was needed when in 2018 he found a large fallen piece of stone, evidence of broader deterioration.
This time, workers used sturdier stainless steel pins and brackets to stabilize the stone and replace the original carbon steel that had rusted.
The cathedral opened in 1901, after a multi-year building campaign by Belgian-born Bishop Camillus Paul Maes, head of the Diocese of Covington and an admirer of the French Gothic style.
While the exterior is modeled after Notre Dame, it has modifications. Just under half the size of the Paris Cathedral, it lacks the original twin towers and has a narrower but still imposing facade. The high-domed interior, bathed in light from large stained-glass windows, is modeled on Paris’s other famous cathedral, Saint-Denis.
Cathedral historian Stephen Enzweiler said the ambition was astonishing. The city’s population at that time was just over 40,000 people, which is the same as its population today.
“At the time, no one had heard of Covington,” Enzweiler said.
Mays said he wanted a sanctuary large enough to accommodate the rapidly growing Catholic immigrant population and large enough to fulfill the medieval vision of a cathedral that would “represent heaven on earth.”
The cathedral was part of a larger Gothic Revival that occurred at the turn of the century that also saw the emergence of notable cathedrals such as St. Patrick’s and St. John the Divine in New York.
“This is a smaller version of the French Gothic Revival in America, which was done at a very high standard in a small town at that time, and is of surprisingly high quality,” said Duncan Stroeck, an architect and professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame and author of “The Church Building as Sacred Space: Beauty, Transcendence, and Eternity.”
“It shows the talent of the bishop, the architect and the craftsmen,” he said.
Ironically, some of this Gothic Revival was not quite as medieval as it might seem. The movement gained strong influence from the renovation of the Paris Cathedral in the mid-19th century after the famous novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame drew attention to its deterioration.
Notre Dame’s renovation architect, Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, added new elements such as a gargoyle-like chimera on the roof. Unlike the gargoyles at Notre Dame, which double as rainwater, the fantasy creatures at the Covington Preserve are purely decorative.
Theories vary about the medieval intent behind the gargoyles. Were they to exorcise evil spirits? Did they represent the satanic world outside the church sanctuary? Were they allegorical figures for morality lessons? Or simply the imaginative fruits of medieval craftsmen?
In modern times, gargoyles and chimeras have often become beloved objects – depicted by Disney as comic side cartoons and replicated in miniature as bookends, statues, and garden art. The Covington Cathedral newsletter is called the Gargoyle Gazette.
The renovation cost $7.8 million, most of which has been raised. Maher said that more than 2,000 donors contributed, in addition to institutions.
“It was an easy sell, because of what the cathedral means not only to our parishioners but to the entire community,” he said.
The goal is to preserve the cathedral as a sanctuary for years to come.
“When everything is turned upside down, this is a place where people can experience the calm of the Lord,” Maher said.
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