Last gargoyle returned to renovated Covington cathedral

The last stone gargoyle has been returned to its perch as part of a two-year restoration of a Kentucky cathedral with a facade modeled after Notre Dame in Paris.

The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior. The project included 32 recreated gargoyles along with repairs of deteriorated finials, arches and balustrades.

The 125-year-old church just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati offers the experience of a European gothic cathedral in the Midwest, said the Very Rev. Ryan Maher, the cathedral’s rector. The cathedral has an “intimate connection to what is really the most popular and most well-known cathedral outside of Rome itself,” he said.

The renovation price tag was nearly $8 million, and most came from donations.

Restoration plans grew out of Maher’s discovery in 2018 of a large piece of stone that fell from the exterior.

More pictures and details are available here .


(AP Photos Carolyn Kaster)