Tourist information:
Mont Saint-Michel is a unique medieval village, listed on the most visited monuments in France. In fact, every year it welcomes more than three million visitors and pilgrims while the village has only 44 inhabitants!
Located in the department of Manche, Mont Saint-Michel is composed of a beautiful abbey and a fortified village built on a rocky island dedicated to St. Michael. For its beauty and history, the whole site was listed as World Heritage by UNESCO in 1979.
Mont Saint-Michel History
The history of Mont Saint Michel began in October 708 when the archangel of the same name appeared to Aubert, bishop of Avranches. It seemed that the archangel had asked him to build a religious monument on mount Tombe in the middle of the mouth of the Couesnon river.
Aubert obeyed and built a chapel dedicated to Saint Michael in the following year. On the tenth century, Benedictine monks settled on the island and began to build an abbey in Romanesque style which quickly became one of the most important pilgrimage places in the Middle Ages.
Partially destroyed by a fire in the thirteenth century, the abbey was rebuilt in Gothic style and new buildings were added there. This part is called "the Wonder".
Subsequently, fortifications were built to protect the village during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They protected it, especially during the attacks of the English during the Hundred Years War.
Then, after the French Revolution, the monks were expelled and the monastery was converted into a prison until 1864. Ten years later, the site was listed as a historical monument. This allowed to start a renovation. A gigantic spire was built on the abbey, topped by a golden statue of the archangel Michael. It was at this time that the Mont Saint Michel took its final appearance.
The village
Only 44 people live year-round on the Mont Saint Michel in the heart of the medieval streets. The charm of the place comes from its unique architecture, with its half-timbered houses and old stone buildings, its legends and celebrities, such as Mère Poulard, but also through the general mood ruling the village enhanced by the original names of the houses: "The house of the artichoke", "the Inn of the sow which spins" or "the isle des bas garden" ...
Today, the life of the Montois (inhabitants of Mont Saint-Michel) is punctuated by tourists visiting the shops and museums of the site. The Main street is always busy but to be able to taste the authenticity of the place, it is advisable to leave it to venture into the narrow, almost secret, streets. You will discovers lovely gardens and beautiful homes. From the city walls, you will enjoy a beautiful view of the bay and the tides that surround the mount every day.
The abbey of Mont Saint-Michel
Since its construction, the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel has been a popular place for pilgrims from all over the world. It contains many treasures of different architectural styles: Carolingian, Romanesque and Gothic. The upper part is the abbey, built in the early days. It is reached by a staircase of 350 steps impeded in the middle by a monitored door.
The monks who were expelled from the abbey during the Revolution, reinvested it in 1966 on the occasion of the celebration of the monastic millennium. Since that time, they have live there throughout the year and have performed the daily offices.
The Abbey is open to visitors so do not miss this opportunity to discover a monument of such beauty.
For more information visit the national monuments web site.
