Little Dedo

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Little Dedo is, according to a story, a small gargoyle with pointy ears and human-like feet on the roof of Notre Dame Cathedral. According to a story published by Design Toscana, when the cathedral was built in 1160, a nun from a tiny convent in Provence, disliked the menacing gargoyles that were being placed on top of the building as reminders of the nature of sin and evil. As the daughter of a stone cutter, she had learned the tools of the trade and decided to put them to good use. One day, she disguised herself as a workman, gained entrance to the work site and quickly carved the sculpture from a small block before placing it on the highest roof.

Gargoyle sculpture of a grotesque being or animal on a building, often used as a waterspout

In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on a building to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimize the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastical animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is directed from the wall. When Gothic flying buttresses were used, aqueducts were sometimes cut into the buttress to divert water over the aisle walls.

Provence Historical province in Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur, France

Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône River to the west to the Italian border to the east, and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, and includes the départements of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The largest city of the region is Marseille.

The gargoyle remained undiscovered for centuries until a small boy, lost in the labyrinthine roof, stumbled off a ledge and rolled down into the lap of the gargoyle. Since its rediscovery, the creature has been affectionately known as Little Dedo, the gargoyle with the crossed toes. In response, some parents keep a statue of this gargoyle around their house in the hope that it will protect their children.

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