Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel

A mountain in the sea

Off the coast where Normandy meets Brittany, in the middle of a vast bay, rises one of the most extraordinary sights in all of France: Mont-Saint-Michel. A tiny rocky island climbs steeply from the sands, and clinging to it, rising in tiers of walls, houses and towers, is a whole little town crowned by a great abbey church whose spire seems to touch the sky. Around it sweep some of the fastest and highest tides in Europe, which can turn the island from a place surrounded by sand to one surrounded by sea in a matter of hours.

A holy mountain

The story of Mont-Saint-Michel began more than a thousand years ago. According to legend, the Archangel Michael appeared in a dream to a local bishop and told him to build a church on the rock. A small shrine was raised, and over the centuries it grew, as Benedictine monks built a great abbey on the summit, climbing the steep rock with ever more daring stonework.

Building such an abbey on a tiny, tide-swept island was an astonishing feat. The monks raised soaring Romanesque and Gothic halls and a beautiful cloister near the very top, in a structure so cleverly built into the rock that it became known as "the Marvel". Pilgrims travelled from all over Europe to worship at this holy mountain in the sea.

The fortress that never fell

Mont-Saint-Michel was not only a place of prayer but also a fortress. During the long Hundred Years' War between France and England, the island stood right on the frontier, and the English tried hard to capture it. But the monks and a small band of French knights defended the rock behind its ramparts, helped by the treacherous tides and quicksands that made any attack dangerous.

Despite years of siege, Mont-Saint-Michel never fell to the English. Its successful defence made it a proud symbol of French resistance, and the cannons left behind by the defeated attackers can still be seen by the gate.

Tides and quicksand

The great bay around Mont-Saint-Michel is famous for its tides, which race in "as fast as a galloping horse", as people used to say. For centuries pilgrims risked the crossing over the sands, and some were lost to the rising water or the quicksand. Today a bridge lets visitors come and go safely, while still letting the sea flow around the island at the highest tides.

Prison and rebirth

After the French Revolution the abbey was closed and, for a time, used as a prison. But its beauty and history could not be forgotten, and in time it was restored and reopened, its monks eventually returning. Today Mont-Saint-Michel is protected by UNESCO and is one of the most visited places in all of France.

Visiting today

Visitors climb the single winding street, lined with old houses and shops, up to the great abbey at the summit, exploring its church, the cloister and the marvellous halls built into the rock. From the ramparts, the view over the vast bay and its racing tides is unforgettable. Holy, dramatic and undefeated, Mont-Saint-Michel is a true wonder of France.