Mont Saint-Michel

For the municipality in Canada, see Mont-Saint-Michel, Quebec. For the island off the coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, see St Michael's Mount.

Le Mont Saint-Michel
Le Mont Saint-Michel
Le Mont Saint-Michel
Location within Lower Normandy region  Le Mont Saint-Michel
Administration
Country	France
Region	Lower Normandy
Department	Manche
Arrondissement	Avranches
Canton	Pontorson
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes de Pontorson - Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Mayor	Éric Vannier (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	5–80 m (16–260 ft)
Land area1	0.97 km2 (0.37 sq mi)
Population2	42  (2008)
- Density	43 /km2 (110 /sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	50353/ 50116
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Mont Saint-Michel (pronounced: [mɔ̃ sɛ̃ mi.ʃɛl]; English: Saint Michael's Mount) is a rocky tidal island 247 acres (100 ha) in size, and is a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre (just over half a mile) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. The island's highest point is 92 metres (301 feet) above sea level. The population of the island is 44, as of 2009.

The island has held strategic fortifications since ancient times, and since the eighth century AD has been the seat of the monastery from which it draws its name. The structural composition of the town exemplifies the feudal society that constructed it. On top God, the abbey and monastery, below this the Great halls, then stores and housing, and at the bottom, outside the walls, fishermen and farmers housing.

One of France's most recognisable landmarks, Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are part of the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites and more than 3 million people visit it each year.

Geography

See also: Mont saint michel bay

Formation

In prehistoric times the bay was land. As sea levels rose, erosion shaped the coastal landscape over thousands 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 (the island just to the north), and Mont Tombe, later called Mont Saint-Michel. The Mont has a circumference of about 960 meters and 92 meters at its highest

Tides

The tides in the area change quickly, and have been described by Victor Hugo as "à la vitesse d'un cheval au galop" or "as swiftly as a galloping horse".

The tides can vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres (46 ft) between high and low water marks. Popularly nicknamed "St. Michael in peril of the sea" by medieval pilgrims making their way across the 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.

Polderisation and occasional flooding created salt marsh meadows that were found to be ideally suited to grazing sheep. The well-flavoured meat that results from the diet of the sheep in the pré salé (salt meadow) makes agneau de pré-salé (salt meadow lamb), a local specialty that may be found on the menus of restaurants that depend on income from the many visitors to the mount.

Tidal island

Low tide in 2005

Mont Saint-Michel was previously connected to the mainland via a tidal causeway, i.e., a trackway covered at high tide and revealed at low tide. This connection has been altered over the centuries. The coastal flats have been polderised to create pastureland, thus the distance between the shore and the south coast of Mont Saint-Michel has decreased, and the Couesnon River has been canalised, reducing the dispersion of the flow of water, and thereby encouraging a silting-up of the bay. In 1879, the tidal causeway was converted into a raised or dry causeway. This prevented the tide from scouring the silt around the mount.

On 16 June 2006, the French prime minister and regional authorities announced a €164 million project (Projet Mont-Saint-Michel) to build a hydraulic dam using the waters of the river Couesnon and of tides to help remove the accumulated silt deposited by the rising tides, and to make Mont Saint-Michel an island again. It was projected to be completed by 2015.

The construction of the dam began in 2009 and is now complete. The project also included the removal of the causeway and its visitor car-park. It will be replaced by a light bridge, allowing the waters to flow freely around the island, which will improve the efficiency of the now operational dam, and a replacement car-park on the mainland. Visitors will use small shuttles to cross the future bridge which will still be open to pedestrians and unmotorised vehicles.

History

Mont Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Gallo-Roman 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 460. From roughly the fifth to the eighth century, Mont Saint-Michel belonged to the territory of Neustria, and in the early ninth century was an important place in the marches of Neustria.

Inside the walls of Mont Saint-Michel.

Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe (Latin tumba). According to legend, the Archangel Michael appeared in 708 to St. Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, 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.

Unable to defend his kingdom against the assaults of the Vikings, the king of the Franks agreed to grant the Cotentin peninsula and the Avranchin, including Mont-Saint-Michel, to the Bretons in the 867 Treaty of Compiègne. This marked the beginning of the brief period of Breton possession of the Mont. In fact, these lands and Mont Saint-Michel were never really included in the duchy of Brittany and remained independent bishoprics from the newly created Breton archbishopric of Dol. When Rollo confirmed Franco as archbishop of Rouen, these traditional dependences of the Rouen archbishopric were retained in it.

The mount gained strategic significance again in 933 when William "Long Sword" annexed the Cotentin Peninsula from the weakened Dukes of Brittany. This made the mount definitively part of Normandy, and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Harold, Earl of Wessex is pictured on the tapestry rescuing two Norman knights from the quicksand in the tidal flats during a battle with Conan II, Duke of Brittany. Norman Ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Mont Saint-Michel and its Bay
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Country	France
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iii, vi
Reference	80
UNESCO region	Europe
Inscription history
Inscription	1979 (3rd Session)

In 1067, the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel gave its support to Duke William of Normandy in his claim to the throne of England. This he rewarded with properties and grounds on the English side of the Channel, including a small island off the southwestern coast of Cornwall which was modeled after the Mount and became a Norman priory named St Michael's Mount of Penzance.

During the Hundred Years' War, the English made repeated assaults on the island, but were unable to seize it 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.

When Louis XI of France founded the Order of Saint Michael in 1469, he intended that the abbey church of Mont Saint-Michel become the chapel for the Order, but because of its great distance from Paris, his intention could never be realized.

The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations, including St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. 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 regime. 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 an historic monument in 1874. Mont Saint-Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979, and it was listed with criteria such as cultural, historical, and architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty.

Abbey design

See also: Mont Saint Michel Abbey

Plan of the mount by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

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 Romanesque 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 siege of the Mount. After having set fire to the village and having massacred the population, he was obliged 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.

Development

• 

  10th century

• 

  11th to 12th century

• 

  17th to 18th century

• 

  19th to 20th century

Heraldry

The Coat of Arms of Mont Saint-Michel are emblazoned with rippled green and blue bars, and two diagonal silver salmon facing opposite directions.

Administration

The cloister

The islet belongs to the French commune of Mont-Saint-Michel, in the département of Manche, in Basse-Normandie. Population (1999): 50. The nearest major town, with an SNCF train station, is Pontorson. Mont Saint-Michel belongs to the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

Mont Saint-Michel has also been the subject of traditional, but nowadays good-humoured, rivalry between Normans and Bretons. Bretons claim that since the Couesnon River marks the traditional boundary between Normandy and Brittany, it is only because the river has altered its course over the centuries that the mount is on the Norman side of the border. This legend amuses the area's inhabitants, who state that the border is not located on the Couesnon river itself but on the mainland, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the west, at the foot of the solid mass of Saint-Brelade.

Le Mont Saint-Michel city

Population

Historical population of Mont Saint-Michel
(Source : EHESS and Insee · )

Year	1793	1800	1806	1821	1831	1836	1841	1846	1851	1856	1861	1866	1872	1876	1881	1886	1891	1896	1901	1906	1911	1921	1926	1931	1936	1946	1954	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2006	2009
Population	234	234	282	904	390	385	1082	1100	1182	1153	1056	203	193	184	209	211	199	230	235	238	232	230	247	250	231	186	268	132	105	114	80	72	46	41	44
From the year 1962 on: population without double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) are counted only once.

Births

1956-1962	1962-1968	1968-1975	1975-1982	1982-1990	1990-1999
xx	13	16	8	6	4

Deaths

1956-1962	1962-1968	1968-1975	1975-1982	1982-1990	1990-1999
xx	6	6	4	5	3

Up to 20,000 people visit the city during the summer months. Among the 43 inhabitants as of 2006, 5 were monks and 7 nuns.

Sister cities

• Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan – where Itsukushima Shrine—another island-temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site—is located.

Historically, Mont Saint-Michel was the Norman counterpart of St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, UK when it was given to the Benedictines, religious order of Mont Saint-Michel, by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century.

Monument Historique

61 buildings have been protected as monuments historiques, through multiples waves starting in 1928.

In popular culture

Statue of Archangel Michael atop the spire

The entrance to the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel leading out into the courtyard in front of the abbey.

Mont Saint-Michel as viewed from the land bridge at night

In literature

• In 1832, the fiction La Fée aux miettes by Charles Nodier mentions the quick sands in the Mont-Saint-Michel bay.
• In 1850, the historical fiction La Fée des grèves by Paul Féval, which takes place around 1450, mentions legends from the Mont-Saint-Michel and the Mont Tombelaine.
• In 1887, in the fiction Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant, the main character ends his therapeutic journey at the Mont-Saint-Michel.
• In 1904, the American intellectual Henry Adams privately published Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres celebrating the unity of medieval society, especially as represented in the great cathedrals of France. It was released publicly in 1913.
• In 1942, Helen MacInnes used Mont St Michel as the location for a key section in her spy novel Cross Channel, set in France just after the Bordeaux Armistice of June 1940. The novel was subsequently renamed as Assignment In Brittany, after a film called Assignment In Brittany was made, based on the novel, in 1943 (see movie section below).
• In 1967, in The Chronicles of Amber, Roger Zelazny his cité d'Ambre was inspired by the Mont-Saint-Michel.
• In 1984, the French ministry of culture published a book by François Rouillay, where someone could reenact the 1000 years of Mont-Saint-Michel history and architecture, with a foreword by Françoise Chandernagor.
• In 2004, the fiction La Promesse de l'ange by Frédéric Lenoir and Violette Cabesos,takes place mostly in the Mont-Saint-Michel.
• In 2005, the thriller Le Sang du temps by Maxime Chattam takes place in the Mont-Saint-Michel in 2005 and in 1920s Egypt.
• In 2011, the science-fiction book L'Ere du Vent by Pierre Bameul has the Mont-Saint-Michel as the new Vatican location in a post-apocalypse world.

In music

• French composer Claude Debussy frequented the island and possibly drew inspiration from not only the legend of the mythical city of Ys, but also Mont Saint-Michel's cathedral for his piano prelude La Cathedrale Engloutie.
• In 1996, one of the song from the Voyager album by Mike Oldfield is dedicated to the Mont-Saint-Michel.
• In 1998, French composer Patrick Broguière published under the title Mont Saint-Michel a progressive rock concept album about Mont-Saint-Michel legends.
• In 1999, Brittany harp musicien Kirjuhel published the album Echo of Mont-Saint-Michel.
• In 2001, Aphex Twin, from Cornwall, published his electronic music album Drukqs, whose title Mt Saint Michel + St Michaels Mount is inspired by both the Mont-Saint-Michel and St Michaels' Mount, in Cornwall.
• In 2003, the French group Oldelaf et Monsieur D published the song Le Mont St-Michel in their album Chansons Cons.

In movies

• 1943, Assignment In Brittany based on the novel by Helen MacInnes which uses the Mont St Michel as the location for a key section. However the film does not directly refer to Mont St Michel and there is no overt attempt to recreate Mont St Michel using studio sets; it would not have been possible to film an Allied propaganda war film on location in German-occupied Mont St Michel in 1943 (see literature section above).
• 1950 : The Elusive Pimpernel by Powell and Pressburger.
• 1983 : Pauline at the Beach d'Éric Rohmer
• 1985 : IMAX film Chronos
• 1991 : Mindwalk
• 1998 : Armageddon de Michael Bay
• 2003 : Mont Saint-Michel was the inspiration for the design of Minas Tirith in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
• 2013 : To the Wonder by Terrence Malick features many scenes set on Mont St Michel, including a moment when a character exclaims the French translation of the title while climbing to the top of the mount.

In video games

• Renaissance Mont Saint-Michel is a playable multiplayer map in the video game Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010), by Ubisoft Montréal. · .
• Contemporary Mont Saint-Michel is displayed in the game Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004) by Capcom.

In sports

• 2013 : Le Mont Saint-Michel will be the end point of stage 11 of the tour de France.

Famous people

• Robert of Thorigny, abbot
• Guillaume de Saint Pair, monk from the Abbey, author of the Roman du Mont-Saint-Michel
• Duc of Chartres (futur Louis-Philippe I), came to destroy the « cage de fer »
• Mathurin Bruneau, shoemaker, scammer and fake Louis XVII, prisoner at the mont in 1821-1822
• Louis Auguste Blanqui, political prisoner
• Armand Barbès, political prisoner
• Monseigneur Bravard, involved in the restoration of the Abbey
• La Mère Poulard, restaurant owner
• Émile Couillard, writer, monk and historian

See also

• Carolingian architecture
• Carolingian art
• Itsukushima Shrine
• La Mère Poulard
• List of Carolingian monasteries
• Manoir de Brion
• Saint Michael (Roman Catholic)
• St Michael's Mount

References

• INSEE population figures

External links

• Mont-Saint-Michel Celebrates 1,300 yrs of History
• Mont Saint-Michel travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official Mont-Saint Michel Tourist site (English version)
• A visit to Mont St. Michel
• Virtual recreation of Mont St. Michel in Second Life
• Pano at 360° of Mont St Michel