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Mont-Saint Michel is a desolate islet far off the shore of Europe.

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Mont-Saint Michel is nearly circular, with a circumference of 3,000 ft. Around the outside is a steep granite cliff rising up to 256 ft.

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Mont-Saint Michel is an islet located 41 miles north of Rennes and 32 miles east of Saint-Malo.

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The Abbey was founded and began construction in the year 966, built on a sanctuary dedicated to the Catholic Arcangel Saint Michael (which was built in 708).

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https://en.normandie-tourisme.fr/unmissable-sites/the-mont-saint-michel/
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/80/
https://www.britannica.com/place/Mont-Saint-Michel
http://www.abbaye-mont-saint-michel.fr/en/Explore/L-histoire-de-l-abbaye-du-Mont-Saint-Michel#

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Updated on 17 July 2023

Reading time: 3 minutes

A magical island topped by a gravity-defying abbey, the Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay count among France's most stunning sights. For centuries one of Europe's major pilgrimage destinations, this holy island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is its breathtaking bay.

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AN UNFORGETTABLE SIGHT

The Mont-Saint-Michel is one of Europe's most unforgettable sights. Set in a mesmerising bay shared by Normandy and Brittany, the mount draws the eye from a great distance.

This staggeringly beautiful location has long captured the imagination. The story of how the mount came to be a great Christian pilgrimage site dates back to the early 8th century, when Aubert, bishop of the nearby hilltop town of Avranches, claimed that the Archangel Michael himself had pressured him into having a church built atop the island just out to sea.

From 966 onwards, the dukes of Normandy, followed by the French kings, supported the development of a major Benedictine abbey on Mont-Saint-Michel. Magnificent monastic buildings were added throughout the Middle Ages, one vertiginous wing in particular being nicknamed the Marvel. The Abbey of the Mont-Saint-Michel became a renowned centre of learning, attracting some of the greatest minds and manuscript illuminators in Europe. Vast numbers of pilgrims visited, despite endless cross-Channel conflict; in fact, the ramparts at the base of the island were built to keep the English forces out. Other fine buildings line the steep village street, now converted into museums, restaurants, hotels and shops for today's tourists.

© E. Berthier

RESTORING THE Bay of the MONT-SAINT-MICHEL tO ITS FORMER GLORY

The Bay of the Mont-Saint-Michel has been prone to silting up over the last couple of centuries. Man-made activities, including farming and building a causeway to the mount, have added to this problem. However, a major conservation project back in 2015 has helped restore island status to the Mont-Saint-Michel. The main river into the bay, the Couesnon, has now been left to flow more freely so that sediments are washed out to sea, and a bridge has replaced the former causeway, enabling the sea to once more fully surround the mount at particularly high tides.

The bay of Mont-Saint-Michel by night © Marc Lerouge

HOW TO GET TO the MONT-SAINT-MICHEL

The visitor car parks have been moved further inland to preserve the Mont-Saint-Michel's exceptional landscape. The car parks are around 1.5 miles from the mount. Once you have parked, head for the Place des Navettes, where specially devised shuttle buses called passeurs will take you to the mount. The shuttle bus stop is 800m (half a mile) from the car parks and the passeurs stop 450m away from the mount itself.The passeurs operate every day at regular intervals between 7:30am and midnight.

Alternatively, you can walk all the way from the car parks to the mount, taking in the magnificence of the Mont-Saint-Michel as you approach.

Discovering Mont-Saint-Michel in the winter © Séverine Frères

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Visit the Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay in Normandy - Normandy Tourism, France

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A unique island topped by a gravity-defying Abbey, the Mont-Saint-Michel is one of France's most stunning sights. Plan your trip here!

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Perhaps the most noticeable thing about the island is the town. Named the "Wonder of the West," it is a Gothic-style Benedictine abbey built from the 11th to the 16th century.

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In the center of the Abbey is the Notre-Dame-sous-terre (or "Our Mother Underground"), has been standing undoubtedly since the 10th century.

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Mont Saint-Michel is becoming more of a tourist attraction than a town nowadays. In 1999, the population was 46 people. In 2014, that number dropped by 10 to 36.