Question: What was the purpose of the Gargoyles at Notre Dame de Paris?
About the article "Notre Dame de Paris", section "Architecture".

Candidate passages:
Apse and transept in a flamboyant style,with gargoyles to the south.
18th century nave. 
  Notre Dame (band), a former Swedish metal band  "Notre Dame" (opera), a 1906 romantic opera by Franz Schmidt  "Notre-Dame de Paris" (operatic melodrama), a Latvian operatic melodrama which debuted on 1997 in Riga  "Notre-Dame de Paris" (musical), a sung-through French-Canadian musical which debuted on 16 September 1998 in Paris  "Notre Dame, Our Mother", the alma mater of the University of Notre Dame  Notre Dame school of Polyphony, a group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1170 to 1250  
Notre-Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress (arched exterior supports).
The building was not originally designed to include the flying buttresses around the choir and nave but after the construction began, the thinner walls (popularized in the Gothic style) grew ever higher and stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward.
In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern.
Many small individually crafted statues were placed around the outside to serve as column supports and water spouts.
Among these are the famous gargoyles, designed for water run-off, and chimeras.
The statues were originally colored as was most of the exterior.
The paint has worn off, but the gray stone was once covered with vivid colors.
The cathedral was essentially complete by 1345.
The cathedral has a narrow climb of 387 steps at the top of several spiral staircases; along the climb it is possible to view its most famous bell and its gargoyles in close quarters, as well as having a spectacular view across Paris when reaching the top.
The design of St. Peter's Anglican Cathedral in Adelaide, Australia was inspired by Notre-Dame de Paris.
 "Freakazoid!
"'s minisegment "The Lawn Gnomes" is a parody of "Gargoyles", featuring a race of lawn gnomes who were cursed in AD 995 Denmark to turn to stone during the day because they caused too much mischief.
The 1995 episode "Freakazoid is History" also featured Freakazoid listening to a gargoyle who bears resemblance to Goliath, during which a loose parody of the Gargoyles musical score and melodramatic exposition from the gargoyle is heard.
Greg Weisman wrote a story for DC Comics' "JLA Showcase 80-Page" #1, published in February 2000.
Weisman's story was set during the time of the Justice League Europe and titled "Flashback of Notre Dame".
The story has Captain Atom, the JLE and Plastique meeting a group of gargoyles at the cathedral Notre Dame de Paris.
After an misunderstanding battle, the JLE help the gargoyles return to their home island Brigadoon.
This version of the clan are more batlike than the characters they parodied and have names based from Paris: Behemoth (Goliath), Diabolique (Demona), Seine (Hudson), Angelique (Angela), Montparnasse (Broadway), Montmartre (Brooklyn), Champs-Élysées (Lexington), Left Bank (Bronx), Thomeheb (Thailog), Cyrano (Othello/Coldstone), Christian (Iago/Coldsteel) and Roxanne (Desdemona/Coldfire).
The 2001 Pioneer LDC English dubbing version of the anime series "3×3 Eyes" (the English voice cast featured members of the "Gargoyles" cast including David, Bako, Fagerbakke, Adcox-Hernandez and Ed Asner) has "Gargoyles" homage scenes, including a homeless man humming the "Gargoyles" theme and a character who wonders "What could make claw marks in solid stone?"
In the episode 14 of the anime series "The Big O" ("Roger the Wanderer", 2003), there are three stone gargoyles that bear a striking resemblance to Brooklyn, Broadway and Lexington on a rooftop as Roger Smith wanders through a memory of Paradigm City (the Gargoyle resembling Broadway appears to have Goliath's jaw) (6:03).
In the episode 45 of "" ("No Good Deed", 2003), during the staged "heroics" montage, Avalanche knocks a stone gargoyle statue, which bears a resemblance to Broadway, off a building in order for Blob to catch, preventing it from smashing into a crowd of people below.
In the episode 21 of the second season of "W.I.T.C.H."
("U Is For Undivided", 2006), parts of the city transformed into a medieval type setting.
A couple shown in the middle of it are Brenda and Marco, respectively based on the "Gargoyles" yuppie couple Margot and Brendan; Pat Fraley voiced both Brendan and Marco.
The first episode of "The Spectacular Spider-Man" ("Survival of the Fittest", 2008), which was written by Weisman, has Spider-Man swinging past a few gargoyle statues, two of whom resemble Hudson and Broadway.
Another scene in this episode depicts a statue of Broadway being smashed on a helicopter pad by Spider-Man, in his attempt to flee from Vulture and an attacking helicopter.
In the 2013 video game "Saints Row IV", Goliath's voice actor Keith David plays himself.
In a crowd shot is a sign for "I Heart Goliath".