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Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel[3] (French pronunciation: [lə mɔ̃ sɛ̃ miʃɛl]; Norman: Mont Saint Miché; English: Saint Michael's Mount) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France.

Le Mont-Saint-Michel
September 2018 view from the southeast at sunrise
Location of Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Le Mont-Saint-Michel
Coordinates: 48°38′10″N 1°30′40″W / 48.636°N 1.511°W / 48.636; -1.511
CountryFrance
RegionNormandy
DepartmentManche
ArrondissementAvranches
CantonPontorson
IntercommunalityCommunauté d'agglomération Mont-Saint-Michel-Normandie
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Jacques Bono[1]
Area
1
4.00 km2 (1.54 sq mi)
Population
 (2021)[2]
25
 • Density6.3/km2 (16/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
50353 /50116
Elevation5–80 m (16–262 ft)
Part ofMont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
CriteriaCultural: i, iii, vi
Reference80
Inscription1979 (3rd Session)
Area6,560 hectares (16,200 acres)
Buffer zone57,510 hectares (142,100 acres)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

The island[4] lies approximately one kilometre (one-half nautical mile) off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 7 hectares (17 acres) in area. The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares (971 acres) in area so that the total surface of the commune is 400 hectares (990 acres).[5][6] As of 2019, the island had a population of 29.[7]

The commune's position—on an island just a few hundred metres (yards) from land—made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, and defensible as the incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The island remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War. A small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433.[8] Louis XI recognised the benefits of its natural defence and turned it into a prison. The abbey was used regularly as a prison during the Ancien Régime.

Mont-Saint-Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 for its unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site.[9] It is visited by more than three million people each year. Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as historical monuments.[10]

In 2023, President Macron marked 1,000 years of the abbey, and the success of the hydraulic dam project and the elevated pedestrian bridge in restoring water flow in the bay, making the mount an island again.[11]

Geography edit

Formation edit

Now a rocky tidal island, the mount occupied dry land in prehistoric times. As sea levels rose, erosion reshaped the coastal landscape, and several outcrops of granite emerged in the bay, having resisted the wear and tear of the ocean better than the surrounding rocks. These included Lillemer, Mont Dol, Tombelaine (the island just to the north), and Mont Tombe, later called Mont-Saint-Michel.

Mont-Saint-Michel consists of leucogranite which solidified from an underground intrusion of molten magma about 525 million years ago, during the Cambrian period, as one of the younger parts of the Mancellian granitic batholith.[12] Early studies of Mont-Saint-Michel by French geologists sometimes describe the leucogranite of the Mont as "granulite", but this granitic meaning of granulite is now obsolete.[13]

The mount has a circumference of about 960 m (3,150 ft) and its highest point is 92 m (302 ft) above sea level.[14]

Tides edit

The tides vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres (46 ft) between highest and lowest 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 have 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 or salt marsh 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 edit

 
Mont-Saint-Michel at low tide
 
The Mont-Saint-Michel in 2014 with the new bridge

The connection between Mont-Saint-Michel and the mainland has changed over the centuries. Previously connected by a tidal causeway uncovered only at low tide, this was converted into a raised causeway in 1879, preventing the tide from scouring the silt around the mount. The coastal flats have been polderised to create pastureland, decreasing the distance between the shore and the island, and the Couesnon river has been canalised, reducing the dispersion of the flow of water. These factors have all encouraged silting-up of the bay.

In June 2006, the French prime minister and regional authorities announced a €200 million project (Projet Mont-Saint-Michel)[15] to build a hydraulic dam using the waters of the Couesnon and the tides to help remove the accumulated silt, and to make Mont-Saint-Michel an island again. The construction of the dam began in 2009. The project included the removal of the causeway and its visitor car park. Since April 2012, the new car park on the mainland has been located 2.5 kilometres (1+12 mi) from the island. Visitors can walk or use shuttles to cross the causeway.

In July 2014, the new bridge, by architect Dietmar Feichtinger, was opened to the public. The light bridge allows waters to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency of the now-operational dam. The bridge, which cost €209 million, was opened by President François Hollande.[16]

On rare occasions, tidal circumstances produce an extremely high "supertide". The new bridge was completely submerged on 21 March 2015 by the highest sea level, a once-in-18-years occurrence, as crowds gathered to snap photos.[17]

History edit

From the 8th century onward edit

Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe (Latin: tumba). According to a legend, the archangel Michael appeared in 708 to Aubert of Avranches, the bishop of Avranches, and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet.[18]

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 traditionally linked to the city of Avranches, to the Bretons in the Treaty of Compiègne. This marked the beginning of a 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. Around 989–990 these traditional bishoprics, dependent of the archbishopric of Rouen and that had been left vacant during the time of the Viking raids, regained their bishops.[19]

The mount gained strategic significance again in 933 when William I Longsword annexed the Cotentin Peninsula from the weakened Duchy of Brittany. This made the mount definitively part of Normandy, and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the Norman Conquest. Harold Godwinson is pictured on the tapestry rescuing two Norman knights from the quicksand in the tidal flats during the Breton–Norman war. Norman ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.[citation needed]

 
Bayeux Tapestry scenes 16 and 17: William and Harold at Mont-Saint-Michel (at top centre), Harold rescuing knights from quicksand.

In 1067, the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel gave its support to William the Conqueror in his claim to the English throne. 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 modelled after Mont-Saint-Michel and became a Norman priory named St Michael's Mount of Penzance.[citation needed]

 
Two bombards abandoned by English forces and currently on display.

During the Hundred Years' War, English forces unsuccessfully besieged Mont-Saint-Michel (which was under French control) twice. The first siege started in 1423, and was lifted the next year. In 1433, an English force equipped with wrought-iron bombards and under the command of Thomas Scales, 7th Baron Scales again besieged the island. It was likewise lifted the next year. Scales's men abandoned two bombards they had used during the siege on 17 June 1434; they were recovered by the French and are currently on display.[20]

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.[citation needed]

The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations, including St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. 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. By 1836, influential figures—including Victor Hugo—had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. The prison was closed in 1863.

In 1872, the French architect of historic monuments, Édouard Corroyer, was responsible for assessing the condition of Mont-Saint-Michel. It took him about two years to convince his minister to classify it as a historic monument, and it was officially declared as such in 1874. From then on Corroyer, a member of the Academy of Fine Arts, devoted fifteen years of his life to the restoration of "la Merveille". Under his direction, gigantic works were undertaken, starting with the most urgent. He wrote four works on the building and his name remains forever attached to the resurrection of Mont-Saint-Michel.[citation needed]

During the occupation of France in World War II, German soldiers occupied Mont-Saint-Michel, where they used St. Aubert church as a lookout post. The island was a major attraction for German tourists and soldiers, with around 325,000 German tourists from July 18, 1940, to the end of the occupation of France.

After the Allies' initial D-Day invasion of Normandy that began on June 6, 1944, many exhausted German soldiers retreated to strongholds like Mont-Saint-Michel. On August 1, 1944, a single American soldier – Private Freeman Brougher of Pennsylvania and the 72nd Publicity Service Battalion – reached and liberated Mont-Saint-Michel accompanied by two British reporters, Gault MacGowan of the New York Sun and Paul Holt with the London Daily Express. Jubilant crowds of locals greeted Brougher, Holt and MacGowan, and Brougher signed the Golden Book, the island's record of visiting nobility, at the mayor's invitation. The abbey was also used as a prison for the first time since the French Revolution when male collaborators with the Germans were jailed there.[21][22]

Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979, listed with criteria such as cultural, historical, and architectural significance, as well as human-created and natural beauty.[9]

 
Mont Saint Michel in 2023

In June 2023, President Emanuel Macron visited Mont-Saint-Michel to mark the 1,000-year anniversary of the abbey. He stated that the changes since the hydraulic dam and the new bridge opened have lessened the silting, making it an island again.[11]

Abbey design edit

 
A plan of the mount by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

In the 11th century, William of Volpiano, the Italian architect who had built Fécamp Abbey in Normandy, was chosen by Richard II, Duke of Normandy, to be the building contractor. 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 building of Romanesque architecture.

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, Guy of Thouars, regent for the Duchess of Brittany, as vassal of the King of France, undertook a siege of the Mount. After setting fire to the village and massacring the population, he beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the abbey. The fire which he lit extended to the buildings, and the roofs fell prey to the flames. Horrified by the cruelty of his Breton ally, Philip Augustus offered Abbot Jordan a grant for the reconstruction of the abbey in the new Gothic architectural style.[23]

Charles VI is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards, and strengthening the ramparts.

Development edit

Administration edit

 
The cloister

The islet belongs to the French commune of Le Mont-Saint-Michel, in the département of Manche, in Normandy.[24] The nearest significant town, with an SNCF train station, is Pontorson, with a population of slightly over 4,000. Mont-Saint-Michel belongs to the Organization of World Heritage Cities.

Population edit

 
Inside the walls of Mont-Saint-Michel
Historical population of Le Mont-Saint-Michel
YearPop.±% p.a.
1793234—    
1800234+0.00%
1806282+3.16%
1821304+0.50%
1831390+2.52%
1836385−0.26%
18411,082+22.96%
18461,100+0.33%
18511,182+1.45%
18561,153−0.50%
18611,056−1.74%
1866203−28.09%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1872193−0.84%
1876184−1.19%
1881209+2.58%
1886211+0.19%
1891199−1.16%
1896230+2.94%
1901235+0.43%
1906238+0.25%
1911232−0.51%
1921230−0.09%
1926247+1.44%
1931250+0.24%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1936231−1.57%
1946186−2.14%
1954268+4.67%
1962132−8.47%
1968105−3.74%
1975114+1.18%
198280−4.93%
199072−1.31%
199946−4.86%
200741−1.43%
201241+0.00%
201730−6.06%
From the year 1962 on: No double counting—residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) are counted only once.
Source: EHESS[25] and Insee[26]
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[citation needed] visit the city during the summer months. Among the 43 inhabitants as of 2006, five were monks and seven nuns.

The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem edit

Since June 2001, following the appeal addressed to them in 2000 by Jacques Fihey, Bishop of Coutances and Avranches,[27] a community of monks and nuns of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem, sent from the mother-house of St-Gervais-et-St-Protais in Paris, have been living as a community on Mont-Saint-Michel. They replaced the Benedictine monks who returned to the mount in 1966. They are tenants of the centre for national monuments and are not involved in the management of the abbey.

The community has seven sisters and four brothers. Their life revolves around prayer, work and fraternal life.[27] The community meets four times a day to recite the liturgical office in the abbey, or in the crypt of Notre-Dame des Trente Cierges in winter. In this way, the building keeps its original purpose as a place of prayer and singing the glory of God. The presence of the community attracts many visitors and pilgrims who come to join in the various liturgical celebrations.

In 2012, the community undertook the renovation of a house on the mount, the Logis Saint-Abraham, which is used as a guest house for pilgrims on retreat.

People and places of note edit

Economy edit

The Mont-Saint-Michel has long "belonged" to some families who shared the businesses in the town and succeeded to the village administration. Tourism is almost the sole source of income of the commune. Tourism brought about $63 million to the small island in 2014.[28] There are about 50 shops for three million tourists. About 25 people sleep every night on the mount, monks included, except for those in hotels. The main institutions are shared by:

  • Eric Vannier, owner of the group Mère Poulard (holding half of restaurants, shops, hotels and three museums);
  • Jean-Yves Vételé, CEO of Sodetour (five hotels, a supermarket and shops—all extramural—including Mercury Barracks);
  • Patrick Gaul, former elected official, hotelier and intramural restaurateur;
  • Independent merchants.

Twin towns and sister cities edit

Historically, Mont-Saint-Michel was the Norman counterpart of St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, UK, which was given to the Benedictines, the religious order of Mont-Saint-Michel, by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century. The two mounts share the same tidal island characteristics and a similar conical shape, though Mont-Saint-Michel is much taller.[32]

 
A statue of Archangel Michael atop the spire

Modern pilgrimage edit

During the medieval period, pilgrims walked from Italy, Germany and England, as well as other parts of France. Such devotees were known as Miquelots. Modern pilgrims can follow the same routes. Ten hiking trails have been created that enable pilgrims from various European countries to retrace the path their ancestors may have taken during a medieval pilgrimage.[33]

In popular culture edit

Cinema edit

Part of the action in Helen MacInnes's 1943 film thriller Assignment in Brittany takes place at the Mont, including a dramatic nighttime chase across the sands. In Peter Jackson's 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gondor's capital city, Minas Tirith, is modelled on Mont-Saint-Michel.[34]

The site appears in the 2004 film Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers.

The town and castle in the 2010 Disney hit film Tangled are based on Mont-Saint-Michel.[35]

Terrence Malick's 2013 film To the Wonder features the abbey in its opening scenes.

Mindwalk is a 1990 feature film directed by Bernt Capra, adapted from his short story based on The Turning Point, a nonfiction book by physicist Fritjof Capra, his brother. Two friends, a poet and a politician, meet a physicist while exploring Mont-Saint-Michel, and engage in unexpectedly deep conversation.

Books edit

The climax of the 2016 young adult novel The Inquisitor's Tale takes place in and around Mont-Saint-Michel, as the protagonists race over the causeway to the Abbey, pursued by the King's men.

Video Games edit

Mont-Saint-Michel is a World Wonder in Civilization VI.[36] Mont-Saint-Michel is featured in Onimusha 3: Demon Siege in which the abbey is overrun by demons in both the 16th and 21st centuries and subsequently destroyed.

A fictionalized version of the island, Beaumont-Saint-Denis, serves as the location for Sniper Elite 5's third mission.[37] The castle is also the inspiration for the site of the climactic final battle in the air combat video game The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, in which it is an abandoned enemy fortress with still-operational anti-air turrets; it also inspired Dark Souls' New Londo Ruins.[38]

Television edit

Mont-Saint-Michel appears at the end of the opening credits of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, showing protagonists Daryl Dixon and Laurent looking out at it across zombie-infested tidelands. In "Deux Amours," it's revealed that Mont-Saint-Michel is the location of the Nest, their ultimate destination. In "Coming Home," Daryl's group finally reaches it.

The Mont-Saint-Michel–inspired village and castle from Tangled return in Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure and Tangled: Before Ever After.[35]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022.
  2. ^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ With two hyphens and the French article "Le" ahead, because it is the name of a commune, not a hill.
  4. ^ By far, the most famous part of the commune, known as the "Mont Saint-Michel" or the "Mount Saint-Michel", with only one hyphen and the name "Mont" untied because it precisely means the hill, a geologic element, in this case, an island.
  5. ^ Institut géographique national (IGN) (ed.). "Commune of Le Mont-Saint-Michel's territory (scale 1:34110), the two mainland zones (enclaves) are visible, surrounded by a yellow line : one on the west of the Couesnon River is a relatively big one (387 ha), the other one on the east of the Couesnon River is a tiny one (6 ha)". geoportail.gouv.fr. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  6. ^ "Communal limits : the three areas (two of them are on the mainland and the third one is the island itself) are each surrounded by an orange line". openstreetmap.org. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  7. ^ Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2019, INSEE
  8. ^ "Mont Saint-Michel". xenophongroup.com. from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay". UNESCO World Heritage List. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. 13 December 2006. from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  10. ^ Base Mérimée: Search for heritage in the commune, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  11. ^ a b Olive, Noemie (5 June 2023). "New dam saved France's Mont-Saint-Michel island status, Macron says". Reuters. Retrieved 8 August 2023. Macron said a new hydraulic dam project started in 1995 and completed in 2015 was now proving it is able to gradually flush sand out of the bay. "In just a few years, the silting up of the bay has been stopped and we have restored the possibility of an island," Macron said.
  12. ^ L'Homer, A.; et al. (1999). Notice explicative, Carte géologique de la France (1/50 000), feuille Baie du mont-Saint-Michel (208) (PDF) (in French). Orléans: BRGM. ISBN 2-7159-1208-0. (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2015.
  13. ^ (in French). Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  14. ^ Chantal Bonnot-Courtois, La Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel et l'estuaire de la Rance: environnements sédimentaires, aménagements et évolution récente. Editor Technip. 2002. pages 15–20
  15. ^ "Official website of the restoring operation of the Mont Saint-Michel's maritime character". www.projetmontsaintmichel.com. from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Mont Saint-Michel reclaims its island status". rfi. November 2015.
  17. ^ Galimberti, Katy (31 March 2015). . AccuWeather. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Mont-St-Michel". New Advent. 1 October 1911. from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  19. ^ Allen, Richard, The Norman Episcopate, 989-1110, University of Glasgow, 2009, fig. 3, p. 14
  20. ^ James, David (6 October 2017). "10 Fascinating Facts About Mont Saint-Michel — the Medieval City on a Rock". 5-Minute History. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  21. ^ Hymel, Kevin (January 2021). "Freeing Mont Saint Michel". Warfare History Network.
  22. ^ "The Liberation of Mont-Saint-Michel". Beaches of Normandy Tours. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  23. ^ Adams, Henry (1913). Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres: A Study of Thirteenth-Century Unity. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 37–38.
  24. ^ Commune du Mont-Saint-Michel (50353), INSEE
  25. ^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet 23871, EHESS (in French).
  26. ^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE
  27. ^ a b "Mont Saint Michel facts". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  28. ^ Stille, Alexander (June 2014). "The Massive and Controversial Attempt to Preserve One of the World's Most Iconic Islands". Smithsonian Magazine.
  29. ^ "Le Mont-Saint-Michel – Jumelage" (in French). Wikimanche.fr. from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  30. ^ . L-co.co.jp. Archived from the original on 13 January 2010. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  31. ^ . Miyajima-arimoto.co.jp. 16 May 2009. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
  32. ^ Henderson, Charles (1925). Cornish Church Guide. Truro: Oscar Blackford. pp. 160–61.
  33. ^ "The ways of holy Michel mount". www.lescheminsdumontsaintmichel.com. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  34. ^ Morrison, Geoffrey (27 June 2014). "The real-life Minas Tirith from 'Lord of the Rings': A tour of Mont Saint-Michel". CNET.
  35. ^ a b "10 Real Life Locations That Inspired Disney Films". Buzzfeed. buzzfeed.com. 20 October 2013. from the original on 29 April 2017.
  36. ^ Parks, William (2 June 2020). "Civilization 6: Wonder Tier List". Game Rant. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  37. ^ Mahardy, Mike (20 June 2022). "Sniper Elite 5 has one of the best sandbox missions I've ever played". Polygon. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  38. ^ "Translation of the Design Works Interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki". Giant Bomb. giantbomb.com. 19 November 2012. from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.

External links edit

  • Mont Saint-Michel:A World Heritage Site
  • Freeing Mont Saint-Michel
  • Mont-Saint-Michel Celebrates 1,300 yrs of History
  • Mont Saint-Michel between history and legends
  • Official Mont-Saint-Michel Tourist site (English version) 16 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  • Virtual recreation of Mont St. Michel in Second Life
  • Pano at 360° of Mont St Michel
  • High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images of Mont Saint-Michel | Art Atlas 12 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  • The Sledge Tramway

mont, saint, michel, this, article, about, town, monastery, abbey, other, uses, mont, saint, michel, disambiguation, french, pronunciation, miʃɛl, norman, mont, saint, miché, english, saint, michael, mount, tidal, island, mainland, commune, normandy, france, c. This article is about the town For the monastery see Mont Saint Michel Abbey For other uses see Mont Saint Michel disambiguation Mont Saint Michel 3 French pronunciation le mɔ sɛ miʃɛl Norman Mont Saint Miche English Saint Michael s Mount is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy France Le Mont Saint MichelCommuneSeptember 2018 view from the southeast at sunriseCoat of armsLocation of Le Mont Saint MichelLe Mont Saint MichelShow map of FranceLe Mont Saint MichelShow map of NormandyCoordinates 48 38 10 N 1 30 40 W 48 636 N 1 511 W 48 636 1 511CountryFranceRegionNormandyDepartmentMancheArrondissementAvranchesCantonPontorsonIntercommunalityCommunaute d agglomeration Mont Saint Michel NormandieGovernment Mayor 2020 2026 Jacques Bono 1 Area14 00 km2 1 54 sq mi Population 2021 2 25 Density6 3 km2 16 sq mi Time zoneUTC 01 00 CET Summer DST UTC 02 00 CEST INSEE Postal code50353 50116Elevation5 80 m 16 262 ft UNESCO World Heritage SitePart ofMont Saint Michel and its BayCriteriaCultural i iii viReference80Inscription1979 3rd Session Area6 560 hectares 16 200 acres Buffer zone57 510 hectares 142 100 acres 1 French Land Register data which excludes lakes ponds glaciers gt 1 km2 0 386 sq mi or 247 acres and river estuaries The island 4 lies approximately one kilometre one half nautical mile off France s north western coast at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 7 hectares 17 acres in area The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares 971 acres in area so that the total surface of the commune is 400 hectares 990 acres 5 6 As of 2019 update the island had a population of 29 7 The commune s position on an island just a few hundred metres yards from land made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey and defensible as the incoming tide stranded drove off or drowned would be assailants The island remained unconquered during the Hundred Years War A small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433 8 Louis XI recognised the benefits of its natural defence and turned it into a prison The abbey was used regularly as a prison during the Ancien Regime Mont Saint Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 for its unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site 9 It is visited by more than three million people each year Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as historical monuments 10 In 2023 President Macron marked 1 000 years of the abbey and the success of the hydraulic dam project and the elevated pedestrian bridge in restoring water flow in the bay making the mount an island again 11 Contents 1 Geography 1 1 Formation 1 2 Tides 1 3 Tidal island 2 History 2 1 From the 8th century onward 2 2 Abbey design 2 3 Development 3 Administration 4 Population 5 The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem 6 People and places of note 7 Economy 8 Twin towns and sister cities 9 Modern pilgrimage 10 In popular culture 10 1 Cinema 10 2 Books 10 3 Video Games 10 4 Television 11 See also 12 References 13 External linksGeography editFormation edit Now a rocky tidal island the mount occupied dry land in prehistoric times As sea levels rose erosion reshaped the coastal landscape and several outcrops of granite emerged in the bay having resisted the wear and tear of the ocean better than the surrounding rocks These included Lillemer Mont Dol Tombelaine the island just to the north and Mont Tombe later called Mont Saint Michel Mont Saint Michel consists of leucogranite which solidified from an underground intrusion of molten magma about 525 million years ago during the Cambrian period as one of the younger parts of the Mancellian granitic batholith 12 Early studies of Mont Saint Michel by French geologists sometimes describe the leucogranite of the Mont as granulite but this granitic meaning of granulite is now obsolete 13 The mount has a circumference of about 960 m 3 150 ft and its highest point is 92 m 302 ft above sea level 14 Tides edit The tides vary greatly at roughly 14 metres 46 ft between highest and lowest 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 have 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 pre sale salt meadow makes agneau de pre sale salt meadow or salt marsh 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 edit nbsp Mont Saint Michel at low tide nbsp The Mont Saint Michel in 2014 with the new bridge The connection between Mont Saint Michel and the mainland has changed over the centuries Previously connected by a tidal causeway uncovered only at low tide this was converted into a raised causeway in 1879 preventing the tide from scouring the silt around the mount The coastal flats have been polderised to create pastureland decreasing the distance between the shore and the island and the Couesnon river has been canalised reducing the dispersion of the flow of water These factors have all encouraged silting up of the bay In June 2006 the French prime minister and regional authorities announced a 200 million project Projet Mont Saint Michel 15 to build a hydraulic dam using the waters of the Couesnon and the tides to help remove the accumulated silt and to make Mont Saint Michel an island again The construction of the dam began in 2009 The project included the removal of the causeway and its visitor car park Since April 2012 the new car park on the mainland has been located 2 5 kilometres 1 1 2 mi from the island Visitors can walk or use shuttles to cross the causeway In July 2014 the new bridge by architect Dietmar Feichtinger was opened to the public The light bridge allows waters to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency of the now operational dam The bridge which cost 209 million was opened by President Francois Hollande 16 On rare occasions tidal circumstances produce an extremely high supertide The new bridge was completely submerged on 21 March 2015 by the highest sea level a once in 18 years occurrence as crowds gathered to snap photos 17 History editFrom the 8th century onward edit Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century the island was called Mont Tombe Latin tumba According to a legend the archangel Michael appeared in 708 to Aubert of Avranches the bishop of Avranches and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet 18 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 traditionally linked to the city of Avranches to the Bretons in the Treaty of Compiegne This marked the beginning of a 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 Around 989 990 these traditional bishoprics dependent of the archbishopric of Rouen and that had been left vacant during the time of the Viking raids regained their bishops 19 The mount gained strategic significance again in 933 when William I Longsword annexed the Cotentin Peninsula from the weakened Duchy of Brittany This made the mount definitively part of Normandy and is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry which commemorates the Norman Conquest Harold Godwinson is pictured on the tapestry rescuing two Norman knights from the quicksand in the tidal flats during the Breton Norman war Norman ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries citation needed nbsp Bayeux Tapestry scenes 16 and 17 William and Harold at Mont Saint Michel at top centre Harold rescuing knights from quicksand In 1067 the monastery of Mont Saint Michel gave its support to William the Conqueror in his claim to the English throne 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 modelled after Mont Saint Michel and became a Norman priory named St Michael s Mount of Penzance citation needed nbsp Two bombards abandoned by English forces and currently on display During the Hundred Years War English forces unsuccessfully besieged Mont Saint Michel which was under French control twice The first siege started in 1423 and was lifted the next year In 1433 an English force equipped with wrought iron bombards and under the command of Thomas Scales 7th Baron Scales again besieged the island It was likewise lifted the next year Scales s men abandoned two bombards they had used during the siege on 17 June 1434 they were recovered by the French and are currently on display 20 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 citation needed The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations including St Michael s Mount in Cornwall 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 By 1836 influential figures including Victor Hugo had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure The prison was closed in 1863 In 1872 the French architect of historic monuments Edouard Corroyer was responsible for assessing the condition of Mont Saint Michel It took him about two years to convince his minister to classify it as a historic monument and it was officially declared as such in 1874 From then on Corroyer a member of the Academy of Fine Arts devoted fifteen years of his life to the restoration of la Merveille Under his direction gigantic works were undertaken starting with the most urgent He wrote four works on the building and his name remains forever attached to the resurrection of Mont Saint Michel citation needed During the occupation of France in World War II German soldiers occupied Mont Saint Michel where they used St Aubert church as a lookout post The island was a major attraction for German tourists and soldiers with around 325 000 German tourists from July 18 1940 to the end of the occupation of France After the Allies initial D Day invasion of Normandy that began on June 6 1944 many exhausted German soldiers retreated to strongholds like Mont Saint Michel On August 1 1944 a single American soldier Private Freeman Brougher of Pennsylvania and the 72nd Publicity Service Battalion reached and liberated Mont Saint Michel accompanied by two British reporters Gault MacGowan of the New York Sun and Paul Holt with the London Daily Express Jubilant crowds of locals greeted Brougher Holt and MacGowan and Brougher signed the Golden Book the island s record of visiting nobility at the mayor s invitation The abbey was also used as a prison for the first time since the French Revolution when male collaborators with the Germans were jailed there 21 22 Mont Saint Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 listed with criteria such as cultural historical and architectural significance as well as human created and natural beauty 9 nbsp Mont Saint Michel in 2023 In June 2023 President Emanuel Macron visited Mont Saint Michel to mark the 1 000 year anniversary of the abbey He stated that the changes since the hydraulic dam and the new bridge opened have lessened the silting making it an island again 11 Abbey design edit See also Mont Saint Michel Abbey nbsp A plan of the mount by Eugene Viollet le Duc In the 11th century William of Volpiano the Italian architect who had built Fecamp Abbey in Normandy was chosen by Richard II Duke of Normandy to be the building contractor 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 building of Romanesque architecture 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 facade of the church in the 12th century In 1204 Guy of Thouars regent for the Duchess of Brittany as vassal of the King of France undertook a siege of the Mount After setting fire to the village and massacring the population he beat a retreat under the powerful walls of the abbey The fire which he lit extended to the buildings and the roofs fell prey to the flames Horrified by the cruelty of his Breton ally Philip Augustus offered Abbot Jordan a grant for the reconstruction of the abbey in the new Gothic architectural style 23 Charles VI is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey mount building towers successive courtyards and strengthening the ramparts Development edit nbsp 10th century nbsp 11th to 12th century nbsp 17th to 18th century nbsp 19th to 21st centuryAdministration edit nbsp The cloister The islet belongs to the French commune of Le Mont Saint Michel in the departement of Manche in Normandy 24 The nearest significant town with an SNCF train station is Pontorson with a population of slightly over 4 000 Mont Saint Michel belongs to the Organization of World Heritage Cities Population edit nbsp Inside the walls of Mont Saint Michel Historical population of Le Mont Saint MichelYearPop p a 1793234 1800234 0 00 1806282 3 16 1821304 0 50 1831390 2 52 1836385 0 26 18411 082 22 96 18461 100 0 33 18511 182 1 45 18561 153 0 50 18611 056 1 74 1866203 28 09 YearPop p a 1872193 0 84 1876184 1 19 1881209 2 58 1886211 0 19 1891199 1 16 1896230 2 94 1901235 0 43 1906238 0 25 1911232 0 51 1921230 0 09 1926247 1 44 1931250 0 24 YearPop p a 1936231 1 57 1946186 2 14 1954268 4 67 1962132 8 47 1968105 3 74 1975114 1 18 198280 4 93 199072 1 31 199946 4 86 200741 1 43 201241 0 00 201730 6 06 From the year 1962 on No double counting residents of multiple communes e g students and military personnel are counted only once Source EHESS 25 and Insee 26 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 citation needed visit the city during the summer months Among the 43 inhabitants as of 2006 update five were monks and seven nuns The Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem editSince June 2001 following the appeal addressed to them in 2000 by Jacques Fihey Bishop of Coutances and Avranches 27 a community of monks and nuns of the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem sent from the mother house of St Gervais et St Protais in Paris have been living as a community on Mont Saint Michel They replaced the Benedictine monks who returned to the mount in 1966 They are tenants of the centre for national monuments and are not involved in the management of the abbey The community has seven sisters and four brothers Their life revolves around prayer work and fraternal life 27 The community meets four times a day to recite the liturgical office in the abbey or in the crypt of Notre Dame des Trente Cierges in winter In this way the building keeps its original purpose as a place of prayer and singing the glory of God The presence of the community attracts many visitors and pilgrims who come to join in the various liturgical celebrations In 2012 the community undertook the renovation of a house on the mount the Logis Saint Abraham which is used as a guest house for pilgrims on retreat People and places of note editRobert of Torigni famous abbot of the mount The Duke of Chartres later Louis Philippe I came to demolish the iron cage Louis Auguste Blanqui political prisoner in the mount Armand Barbes political prisoner in the mount La Mere Poulard famous restaurant Anne Boutiaut Poulard creator of the Omelette de la mere Poulard Tiphaine Raguenel Breton noblewoman and astrologer Economy editThe Mont Saint Michel has long belonged to some families who shared the businesses in the town and succeeded to the village administration Tourism is almost the sole source of income of the commune Tourism brought about 63 million to the small island in 2014 28 There are about 50 shops for three million tourists About 25 people sleep every night on the mount monks included except for those in hotels The main institutions are shared by Eric Vannier owner of the group Mere Poulard holding half of restaurants shops hotels and three museums Jean Yves Vetele CEO of Sodetour five hotels a supermarket and shops all extramural including Mercury Barracks Patrick Gaul former elected official hotelier and intramural restaurateur Independent merchants Twin towns and sister cities editHatsukaichi Hiroshima Japan where Itsukushima Shrine another UNESCO World Heritage Site is located 29 30 31 Historically Mont Saint Michel was the Norman counterpart of St Michael s Mount in Cornwall UK which was given to the Benedictines the religious order of Mont Saint Michel by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century The two mounts share the same tidal island characteristics and a similar conical shape though Mont Saint Michel is much taller 32 nbsp A statue of Archangel Michael atop the spireModern pilgrimage editDuring the medieval period pilgrims walked from Italy Germany and England as well as other parts of France Such devotees were known as Miquelots Modern pilgrims can follow the same routes Ten hiking trails have been created that enable pilgrims from various European countries to retrace the path their ancestors may have taken during a medieval pilgrimage 33 In popular culture editCinema edit Part of the action in Helen MacInnes s 1943 film thriller Assignment in Brittany takes place at the Mont including a dramatic nighttime chase across the sands In Peter Jackson s 2003 film The Lord of the Rings The Return of the King Gondor s capital city Minas Tirith is modelled on Mont Saint Michel 34 The site appears in the 2004 film Mickey Donald Goofy The Three Musketeers The town and castle in the 2010 Disney hit film Tangled are based on Mont Saint Michel 35 Terrence Malick s 2013 film To the Wonder features the abbey in its opening scenes Mindwalk is a 1990 feature film directed by Bernt Capra adapted from his short story based on The Turning Point a nonfiction book by physicist Fritjof Capra his brother Two friends a poet and a politician meet a physicist while exploring Mont Saint Michel and engage in unexpectedly deep conversation Books edit The climax of the 2016 young adult novel The Inquisitor s Tale takes place in and around Mont Saint Michel as the protagonists race over the causeway to the Abbey pursued by the King s men Video Games edit Mont Saint Michel is a World Wonder in Civilization VI 36 Mont Saint Michel is featured in Onimusha 3 Demon Siege in which the abbey is overrun by demons in both the 16th and 21st centuries and subsequently destroyed A fictionalized version of the island Beaumont Saint Denis serves as the location for Sniper Elite 5 s third mission 37 The castle is also the inspiration for the site of the climactic final battle in the air combat video game The Sky Crawlers Innocent Aces in which it is an abandoned enemy fortress with still operational anti air turrets it also inspired Dark Souls New Londo Ruins 38 Television edit Mont Saint Michel appears at the end of the opening credits of The Walking Dead Daryl Dixon showing protagonists Daryl Dixon and Laurent looking out at it across zombie infested tidelands In Deux Amours it s revealed that Mont Saint Michel is the location of the Nest their ultimate destination In Coming Home Daryl s group finally reaches it The Mont Saint Michel inspired village and castle from Tangled return in Rapunzel s Tangled Adventure and Tangled Before Ever After 35 nbsp France portal nbsp Middle Ages portalSee also editAragonese Castle Carolingian architecture Carolingian art French Romanesque architecture Key Monastery La Mere Poulard Le Mont Saint Michel clothing clothing brand named after the abbey List of Carolingian monasteries Manoir de Brion Monemvasia Mont Saint Michel Abbey Mont Saint Michel and Chartres 1904 by Henry Adams Saint Malo Saint Michael in the Catholic Church St Michael s Mount CornwallReferences edit Repertoire national des elus les maires in French data gouv fr Plateforme ouverte des donnees publiques francaises 13 September 2022 Populations legales 2021 The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies 28 December 2023 With two hyphens and the French article Le ahead because it is the name of a commune not a hill By far the most famous part of the commune known as the Mont Saint Michel or the Mount Saint Michel with only one hyphen and the name Mont untied because it precisely means the hill a geologic element in this case an island Institut geographique national IGN ed Commune of Le Mont Saint Michel s territory scale 1 34110 the two mainland zones enclaves are visible surrounded by a yellow line one on the west of the Couesnon River is a relatively big one 387 ha the other one on the east of the Couesnon River is a tiny one 6 ha geoportail gouv fr Retrieved 9 August 2018 Communal limits the three areas two of them are on the mainland and the third one is the island itself are each surrounded by an orange line openstreetmap org Retrieved 9 August 2018 Telechargement du fichier d ensemble des populations legales en 2019 INSEE Mont Saint Michel xenophongroup com Archived from the original on 19 May 2015 Retrieved 7 October 2015 a b Mont Saint Michel and its Bay UNESCO World Heritage List United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization 13 December 2006 Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 Retrieved 31 May 2011 Base Merimee Search for heritage in the commune Ministere francais de la Culture in French a b Olive Noemie 5 June 2023 New dam saved France s Mont Saint Michel island status Macron says Reuters Retrieved 8 August 2023 Macron said a new hydraulic dam project started in 1995 and completed in 2015 was now proving it is able to gradually flush sand out of the bay In just a few years the silting up of the bay has been stopped and we have restored the possibility of an island Macron said L Homer A et al 1999 Notice explicative Carte geologique de la France 1 50 000 feuille Baie du mont Saint Michel 208 PDF in French Orleans BRGM ISBN 2 7159 1208 0 Archived PDF from the original on 6 October 2015 Carnets geologique de Philippe Glangeaud Glossaire in French Archived from the original on 14 November 2015 Retrieved 7 October 2015 Chantal Bonnot Courtois La Baie du Mont Saint Michel et l estuaire de la Rance environnements sedimentaires amenagements et evolution recente Editor Technip 2002 pages 15 20 Official website of the restoring operation of the Mont Saint Michel s maritime character www projetmontsaintmichel com Archived from the original on 17 October 2015 Retrieved 7 October 2015 Mont Saint Michel reclaims its island status rfi November 2015 Galimberti Katy 31 March 2015 Photos Supertide Turns Mont Saint Michel into Island in a Once in 18 Year Spectacle AccuWeather Archived from the original on 17 October 2015 Catholic Encyclopedia Mont St Michel New Advent 1 October 1911 Archived from the original on 16 January 2013 Retrieved 10 July 2013 Allen Richard The Norman Episcopate 989 1110 University of Glasgow 2009 fig 3 p 14 James David 6 October 2017 10 Fascinating Facts About Mont Saint Michel the Medieval City on a Rock 5 Minute History Retrieved 24 January 2022 Hymel Kevin January 2021 Freeing Mont Saint Michel Warfare History Network The Liberation of Mont Saint Michel Beaches of Normandy Tours Retrieved 8 August 2023 Adams Henry 1913 Mont Saint Michel and Chartres A Study of Thirteenth Century Unity Boston Houghton Mifflin pp 37 38 Commune du Mont Saint Michel 50353 INSEE Des villages de Cassini aux communes d aujourd hui Commune data sheet 23871 EHESS in French Population en historique depuis 1968 INSEE a b Mont Saint Michel facts Retrieved 5 September 2018 Stille Alexander June 2014 The Massive and Controversial Attempt to Preserve One of the World s Most Iconic Islands Smithsonian Magazine Le Mont Saint Michel Jumelage in French Wikimanche fr Archived from the original on 21 July 2011 Retrieved 31 May 2011 Nishihiroshima Times L co co jp Archived from the original on 13 January 2010 Retrieved 31 May 2011 Miyajima Grand Hotel Info Miyajima arimoto co jp 16 May 2009 Archived from the original on 6 March 2012 Retrieved 31 May 2011 Henderson Charles 1925 Cornish Church Guide Truro Oscar Blackford pp 160 61 The ways of holy Michel mount www lescheminsdumontsaintmichel com Retrieved 27 June 2020 Morrison Geoffrey 27 June 2014 The real life Minas Tirith from Lord of the Rings A tour of Mont Saint Michel CNET a b 10 Real Life Locations That Inspired Disney Films Buzzfeed buzzfeed com 20 October 2013 Archived from the original on 29 April 2017 Parks William 2 June 2020 Civilization 6 Wonder Tier List Game Rant Retrieved 8 November 2023 Mahardy Mike 20 June 2022 Sniper Elite 5 has one of the best sandbox missions I ve ever played Polygon Retrieved 8 November 2023 Translation of the Design Works Interview with Hidetaka Miyazaki Giant Bomb giantbomb com 19 November 2012 Archived from the original on 30 June 2015 Retrieved 31 July 2015 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mont Saint Michel nbsp Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Mont Saint Michel Mont Saint Michel A World Heritage Site Freeing Mont Saint Michel Mont Saint Michel Celebrates 1 300 yrs of History Mont Saint Michel between history and legends Official Mont Saint Michel Tourist site English version Archived 16 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine Virtual recreation of Mont St Michel in Second Life Pano at 360 of Mont St Michel High resolution 360 Panoramas and Images of Mont Saint Michel Art Atlas Archived 12 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine The Sledge Tramway Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mont Saint Michel amp oldid 1217218687, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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