Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel

The Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel crowns the rocky islet that gave its name to the commune of Mont-Saint-Michel, in the Manche. Benedictine monks settled there in 965 or 966, taking over from the canons who had guarded the sanctuary since the 8^th century. A community still prays there today: since 2001, it has been brothers and sisters of the Fraternités monastiques de Jérusalem.

The foundation according to tradition

Le récit des origines vient d’un texte latin du IX^e siècle, la Revelatio. D’après ce récit, l’archange Michel apparaît trois fois en songe à Aubert, évêque d’Avranches, pour lui demander d’élever un oratoire sur le rocher, alors appelé mont Tombe. Aubert envoie chercher des reliques au sanctuaire du mont Gargan, en Italie, et l’église est dédiée en 709. Les historiens lisent ce texte avec prudence, mais il a fixé pour des siècles l’image du Mont comme sanctuaire de l’archange.

Fortress, prison, then restored abbey

During the Hundred Years' War, the fortified abbey held out against the English, notably during the great attack of 1434; two abandoned bombards on the sands, the "Michelettes", keep the memory of it. In 1731, part of the buildings became a state prison. After the departure of the last Benedictines in 1791, the abbey became nothing more than a place of detention, until 1863. Paradoxically, this use saved it, while so many other abbeys were sold or demolished. It was listed as a historic monument in 1862.

From La Merveille to the cloître suspendu

On the north face rises the Merveille, a three-storey Gothic ensemble built between 1211 and 1228: the cellar and almonry at the bottom, the Guests' Hall and the Knights' Hall in the middle, the refectory and cloister at the top. This cloister is not at the centre of the monastery as elsewhere. Its columns arranged in a quincunx give it great lightness, and three arcades of the west gallery open onto the void. Above the abbey church, the gilded statue of Saint Michael, the work of Emmanuel Frémiet, has crowned the spire since 1897.

What people come here for

For enthusiasts of energy sites, the rock dedicated to the archangel remains a leading reference. The crowds are very real, since the abbey alone receives around 1,5 million visitors a year, but the cloister opening onto the bay or the climb to the abbey church often leaves a strong impression. An energy site is also experienced through its contrasts: tell us below what struck you.

UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1979, then a second time in 1998 as part of the Camino de Santiago routes. Since 2012, the community has also welcomed retreatant pilgrims in a house in the village, the Logis Saint-Abraham.