Mont Saint-Michel is located in Normandy in the department of Manche. Its name comes from a small island, a granitic outgrowth approaching 960 meters in circumference that reaches 92 meters above sea level, dedicated to archangel Michael. The extraordinary architecture of Mont Saint-Michel and its bay make it the most visited tourist attraction in Normandy and the third in France (after the Eiffel tower and the palace of Versailles), with some 3,200,000 visitors each year. Classified as a historic building in 1874, the site has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. The church is crowned by a gold statue of St. Michael. which was sculpted by Emmanuel Frémiet, reaching a height of 155 metres (510 feet) above sea level. The inhabitants of Mont-Saint-Michel are called the Montois.
Formation
In prehistoric times the bay were covered by the sea, which retreated over multiple glaciations, allowing erosion to shape the coastal landscape over millions of years. Several blocks of granite or granulite emerged in the bay, having resisted the wear and tear of the ocean better than the surrounding rocks. These included Lillemer, the Mont-Dol, Tombelaine and Mont Tombe, later called Mont Saint Michel.
Tidal Island
Mont-Saint-Michel used to be connected to the mainland via a thin natural land bridge, which before modernization was covered at high tide and revealed at low tide. Thus, Mont Saint Michel gained a mystical quality, being an island half the time, and being attached to land the other: a tidal island.
However, the insular character of the mount has been compromised by several developments. Over the centuries, the coastal flats have been polderised to create pasture. The south coast of Mont-Saint-Michel has thus got farther to the shore and the mount. The Couesnon River has been canalised, reducing the flow of water and thereby encouraging a silting-up of the bay. In 1879, the land bridge was fortified into a true causeway. This prevented the tide from scouring the silt round the mount. There are currently plans to remove the causeway and replace it with a bridge and a shuttle.
On 16 June 2006, the Prime Minister of France, Dominique de Villepin, announced a €150 million project (Projet Mont Saint-Michel) to build a hydraulic dam that will help remove the accumulated silt and make Mont Saint-Michel an island again. It is expected to be completed by 2012.
History
Mont Saint-Michel was used in the 6th and 7th centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-Breton culture and power, until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in AD 459.
Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe. According to legend, the archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel’s instruction, until Michael burned a hole in the bishop’s skull with his finger.
The mount gained strategic significance in 933 when William “Long Sword”, Duke of Normandy, annexed the Cotentin Peninsula, definitively placing the mount in Normandy. It is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.
During the Hundred Years’ War the English made repeated assaults on the island but were unable to seize it partly due to the abbey’s improved fortifications. Les Michelettes, two wrought-iron bombards left by the English in their failed 1423-24 siege of Mont Saint-Michel, are still displayed near the outer defense wall
The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations, including St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, England. However, its popularity and prestige as a centre of pilgrimage waned with the Reformation, and by the time of the French Revolution there were scarcely any monks in residence. The abbey was closed and converted into a prison, initially to hold clerical opponents of the republican régime. High-profile political prisoners followed, but by 1836 influential figures, including Victor Hugo, had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. The prison was finally closed in 1863, and the mount was declared a historic monument in 1874. The Mont Saint Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979, as they rank very high on such World Heritage Site criteria as cultural, historical, and architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty.
Design
William de Volpiano, the Italian architect who had built the Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, was chosen as building contractor by Richard II of Normandy in the 11th century. He designed the Romanesque church of the abbey, daringly placing the transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight; these formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today. Today Mont Saint-Michel is seen as a Gothic-style church.
Robert de Thorigny, a great supporter of Henry II of England (who was also Duke of Normandy), reinforced the structure of the buildings and built the main façade of the church in the 12th century. In 1204, the Breton Guy de Thouars allied to the King of France, undertook the seat of the Mount. After having set fire to the borough and having massacred the population, he was constrained to beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the Abbey. Unfortunately, the fire which he himself lit extended to the buildings and the roofs fell prey to the flames. Horrified by the cruelty and the exactions of his Breton ally, Philip Augustus offered Abbot Jourdain a grant for the construction of a new Gothic-style architectural set which included the addition of the refectory and cloister.
Charles VI is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards and strengthening the ramparts.
Tides
The tides in the area shift quickly, and have been described by Victor Hugo as “Ã la vitesse d’un cheval au galop” or “as swiftly as a galloping horse”. The tide actually comes in at one meter per second.
The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres between high and low water marks. Popularly nicknamed “St. Michael in peril of the sea” by medieval pilgrims making their way across the tidal flats, the mount can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous walk across the sands from the neighbouring coast. The danger of drowning due to coastal tides after getting caught in quicksand continues to claim lives.
Hotels in or near the Mont Saint-Miche l can be booked here .
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License . It uses material from the Wikipedia article on Mont Saint-Michel
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