Mont-St-Michel
The view of Mont-St-Michel
rising from the rippling sands that surround it is one of the iconic
images of France, but no matter how often you have seen pictures of it,
your first sight of the real thing is quite spectacular. The 80-m
(260-fl) high granite rock rising from the bay has a long religious
history. Legend has it that the Archangel Michael appeared to the Bishop
of Avranches (later St Aubert) and told him to build a chapel here. A
settlement grew up around the base of the mount and it became a place of
pilgrimage.
In 966 the Duke of Normandy replaced the chapel with a Benedictine Abbey
but in 1203 it was burned down by Philippe-Auguste's troops. He made
reparation for this by building the great Gothic abbey that we see today,
although the fortifications were added by Charles VI. After a period of
decline, Napoleon made the abbey a prison. In 1874, it was declared a
national monument and restoration work began.
Mont-St-Michel is separated from the mainland by 1 km (0.6 mile) of water
that becomes a Floor of shifting sand and mud at low tide. The causeway
was built in 1879 - before that pilgrims had to brave the tides that
could sweep in and drown them. In 1966 Benedictine monks made the abbey
their home once more. The abbey is reached up steep, narrow streets lined
with souvenir shops and packed with visitors. The buildings are easier to
see in winter, when there are fewer people.
