Castle island mont saint michel. The impregnable castle of Mont Saint-Michel (13 photos). Districts. Where is the best place to live?

You can find analogues - but Mont Saint-Michel is absolutely unique. There is simply no rival in the world to a lonely mountain in the middle of a perfectly flat plain; a mountain crowned by a stern monastery and surrounded by impenetrable walls; a mountain whose slopes sheltered an entire medieval city with tiny winding streets; a mountain that the highest tides in Europe twice a day turn into an impregnable island, and the surrounding plain into a raging ocean. The path to get there is not easy, but from year to year millions of people flock here - to feel involved in a true miracle, at least for a few hours.

UNESCO included Mont Saint-Michel on the List of World Heritage Sites, guidebooks proudly call it the “eighth wonder of the world,” and the French themselves simply call their favorite attraction the Mountain.

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How to get to Mont Saint Michel

The easiest and most economical way to get to Mont Saint-Michel is to take a direct bus from Paris. On Saturdays and Sundays, Flixbus buses leave from La Défense early in the morning and return to the capital late in the evening. The journey takes about 5 hours, passengers are taken directly to the walls of Mont Saint-Michel. A round-trip ticket will cost less than 50 EUR, you can book it at the office. carrier's website. Prices on the page are for October 2018.

On weekdays, getting to the Mountain is a little more difficult: first you need a network connection high-speed train TGV at Montparnasse station, go to Rennes, and then change to a bus from the local Keolys network. A combined train-bus ticket can be purchased at the office. website of the SNCF company, which is in charge of all railways France. The travel time is comparable to the bus option, and for a one-way ticket you will have to pay at least 50 EUR.

The third way to get to Mont Saint-Michel from Paris can easily be considered exotic: at the Rennes railway station you need to change to local train to the town of Pontorson, and then take a minibus to Mont Saint-Michel (travel time about 20 minutes, ticket price 2.50 EUR). For those traveling to Mont Saint-Michel from Normandy, this method is quite acceptable: several trains run daily from Rouen to Pontorson.

Mont Saint-Michel can also be reached by car - the road from Paris along the A13 toll motorway takes about 4 hours and costs 15 EUR. The route through Alençon along the free highway N10 is shorter in mileage, but longer in time and very tiring for the driver - the road runs through many towns with narrow intersections, pedestrian crossings and frequent speed limits of up to 50 km/h.

Search for flights to Paris (the nearest airport to Mont Saint-Michel)

A little history

In Gallo-Roman times, a dense forest rustled on the site of the present Bay of Saint-Michel, and the future Mountain was a low hill. The first Christian hermits chose it as a place of solitude and prayer. Locals They brought food to the ascetics, and in due course they buried their remains. The previously unnamed hill began to be called Grave Mountain. By the 7th century, the ocean swallowed up the land, and the Mountain acquired its modern shape, and in 709 the first monastery was founded on the top. Over the centuries, it grew, changed owners several times, survived many wars and sieges, was once burned to the ground and rebuilt stone by stone - until it was closed during the French Revolution. The monks were expelled, their cells were turned into cells for political prisoners. The darkest period of Mont Saint-Michel lasted almost 100 years, and only at the end of the 19th century the prison was closed and Mont Saint-Michel received the status national museum. In 1966, part of the monastery was returned to the Catholic Church, and now the Benedictine brothers celebrate Mass daily in the abbey chapel.

Transport

The transport system of Mont Saint-Michel is somewhat exotic, but very convenient and fully corresponds to the special atmosphere of this place. 3 km from the monastery, next to the 24-hour paid parking (half an hour is free, a day ticket will cost car owners 11.50 EUR) there is a stop for unusual electric buses. They were designed specifically for Mont Saint-Michel, and they do not have the usual “front” and “rear” - the driver’s cabins are located on both sides. They cover the path to the mountain in 12 minutes, making stops along the way at hotels and restaurants in the town of La Caserne on the shore of the bay. Buses run from 7:30 to midnight at intervals of several minutes and travel is free.

For lovers of antiquity, there is an alternative: carriages pulled by a pair of Norman heavy trucks reach the mountain in 25 minutes. Capacity is up to 24 passengers, one-way ticket costs 5 EUR.

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Beautiful Mont Saint Michel

Communications and Wi-Fi

Problems with mobile communications not in Mont Saint-Michel - 3G and 4G networks are available anywhere on the island. The situation with Wi-Fi is less rosy; you can only discover a free access point by chance. In this sense, it is easier for hotel guests and restaurant clients than for tourists visiting for a few hours - free Wi-Fi has long become a standard in such establishments. The password to a hotel chain is usually written either on the wall of the room or on a special laminated card - it is placed on the table before guests check-in. Finding the password to restaurant chains is not always easy - it is not customary to post it openly. Sometimes it is printed at the bottom of the menu, but in most cases you will have to ask the waiter for help.

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Mont Saint Michel Hotels

Local hotels are clearly divided into two groups: hotels from the first are located inside the city fortifications (intra muros), from the second - in the town of La Caserne in the immediate vicinity of Mont Saint-Michel. The hotel rooms are cramped, not the most pleasant smells can be heard from the restaurants downstairs, you will have to first take a minibus to get to your accommodation, and then walk up the Grande Rue, crowded with tourists. But the proximity to all the attractions and the opportunity to watch the tide from your “own” windows are worth it.

Hotels in La Caserne are designed in modern times, there is a higher level of comfort at reasonable prices - with early booking a room in a 2* hotel will cost only 55 EUR. Among the advantages of staying overnight in La Caserne are convenient hotel parking, a stunning view of Mont Saint-Michel at night, as well as a vibrant and varied nightlife.

What to bring

The choice of souvenirs in Mont Saint-Michel is huge: shops along the main street fight for every client, offering a wide range of goods for every taste and budget - from magnets for a couple of euros to a full set of knight's armor for the price of an average car.

In addition to the usual tourist set, it is customary to take away as souvenirs elegant plates with images of the abbey, small copies of the statue of the Archangel Michael decorating the monastery spire, funny stone figurines of musicians and jugglers made in medieval technology, models of sailing ships, figurines made of Norman porcelain, as well as souvenirs replicas of bladed weapons.

Among the culinary products, the most popular are crispy butter cookies “from Mother Poulard”, “Quin-aman” pies from neighboring Brittany, as well as local salted caramel - it is packaged and sold individually.

Cuisine and restaurants of Mont Saint-Michel

People don’t go to Mont Saint-Michel for gastronomic pleasures; sophisticated, expensive restaurants here would simply go out of business. Local kitchen simple, tasty and inexpensive - exactly what a weary traveler needs.

All bars, cafes, snack bars and pancake houses are located exclusively on Grande Rue - it is useless to look for food in other places on the island. These establishments are accustomed to quickly serving the tourist flow, and you can count on a short, hearty snack at a price of 12 to 25 EUR. Snacks and sandwiches to take away will cost 3-4 EUR each.

There are few restaurants in Mont Saint-Michel, they exist only at hotels and sometimes live at the pace of the guests - they serve for a long time, but it is there that you can taste the Mountain's signature dish at an affordable price - lamb fillet raised in the local water meadows (it is believed that Ocean salt naturally permeates the meat and gives it a unique flavor). Dinner in such a restaurant will cost 80-120 EUR and will take several hours, but while waiting for food you can watch the ebb and flow of the tides - all restaurants here have panoramic terraces overlooking the bay.

Guides in Mont Saint Michel

Entertainment and attractions

Mont Saint-Michel is a landmark in itself. The majestic fortress city on a lonely mountain, surrounded alternately by the ocean and by a damp sandy plain, invariably makes a strong impression on travelers.

By the way, it was the monastery of Mont Saint-Michel that became the prototype for the fortress of Minas Tirith in the film “The Lord of the Rings”.

Access to Mont Saint-Michel itself is free, and any tourist can enter the city through the Royal Gate, simultaneously examining a cannon from the Hundred Years War, marvel at the two-meter width of the local “Grand Rue” (Grande Rue) and pick up souvenirs there. If your build permits, you can take a chance and climb to the upper tier along crooked alleys - in some places you will have to squeeze through sideways. At the top, after passing the gates of the abbey and walking along the walls, you can thoughtfully select an “observation post” and meet the tide with a camera in your hands. On the way back, it’s worth stopping by the tiny city church and ending the tour with a walk along the fortress walls of the lower tier, returning to the Royal Gate. If you have time and energy left, you can walk along the granite blocks along the island to the small chapel of Saint-Aubert - it used to serve as a place for prayer vigils.

An adult tourist will have to pay 10 EUR to enter the abbey (office site in English), children are admitted free of charge.

"Constable's House", "Archaeoscope", Historical and Maritime museums somewhat lost against the background of other attractions, but also interesting in their own way. A combined ticket to visit all 4 will cost 18 EUR, Additional information can be obtained at the office. website (in English).

5 things to do in Mont Saint Michel

Walk under the echoing arches of the abbey and go down to its heart - the chapel of Notre-Dame-Sous-Terre.
Meet the tide while standing at the stone parapet of the upper fortifications.
At low tide, go out onto the damp sand of the bay and look at the Mountain from all sides.
Buy souvenirs in the shops on Grande Rue.
Try the famous omelet “from Mother Poulard”

Weather

The climate in northern France is mild. In general, you can rely on the weather forecast for Normandy, but it is worth taking into account some features of the bay: the ocean has leveled the surface for kilometers around the Mountain, so the westerly wind blows around Mont Saint-Michel as it wants - this is especially felt on the upper observation platforms. Tides constantly wet the surrounding sand, so in winter there is a high risk of fog, and in summer high humidity combined with the scorching sun makes many tourists faint.

The ocean not only affects the microclimate of the Mountain - often the life of a tourist depends on it. The tide comes suddenly and moves the water at the speed of a running person, so before going for a walk you should definitely study the tide schedule at the office. website (in English).

Address: France, Normandy, Manche department
The beginning of the abbey's history: 708
Coordinates: 48°38′9.6″N,1°30′41.04″W
Main attractions: abbey built in the 11th-16th centuries

Content:

In France, off the coast historical region Normandy, on the top of an 80-meter cliff, washed by the waves of the Atlantic, is the ancient abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. Only a 2-kilometer dam connects the island with the mainland.

At high tide, Mont Saint-Michel is completely surrounded by water, and at low tide it is surrounded by quicksand.. This place has long been shrouded in a mystical aura: the Celts called the island Grave Mountain and used it as a cemetery, and the Druids came here to worship the setting sun. One of the legends says that it was on Mogilnaya Hill that Julius Caesar was buried in a golden coffin and golden sandals.

Mont Saint Michel at sunset

Mont Saint-Michel - abode of the Archangel Michael

The history of the abbey itself dates back to 708, when the Archangel Michael appeared to Bishop Aubert from the city of Avranches in a dream and ordered to build a temple on Mogilnaya Hill.

The place was not chosen by chance: according to legend, on this island the Archangel Michael, together with his heavenly army, defeated Satan, who took the form of a seven-headed dragon. Three times the Archangel Michael visited the bishop, repeating his order, but the incredulous Norman did not heed the sign.

General view of Mont Saint Michel

And only after the heavenly messenger, angry, hit the priest on the forehead with his finger, Ober began construction. Those who doubt the authenticity of this legend can check for themselves: there is indeed a noticeable dent on Auber’s preserved skull.

In 966, the Norman Duke Richard I gave Mont Saint-Michel to the Benedictine monks, who founded an abbey here. Over five centuries of construction (XI - XVI centuries), an ensemble of Romanesque and Gothic buildings rose above the island, rising up the mountainside to the elegant turret of the monastery church crowning the entire structure.

Mont Saint Michel from above

Despite numerous alterations, the church has largely retained its Romanesque appearance - rounded arches, massive walls and vaults. The choir, completed in the 15th century, is made in the “flaming Gothic” style. At the tip of the spire at an altitude of 155.5 meters above sea level there is a gilded figure of the Archangel Michael with a drawn sword.

Gothic complex "Miracle"

In 1203, France annexed Normandy. King Philip II Augustus, wanting to atone for his sin before the Archangel Michael for burning part of the monastery during the siege, built the Gothic complex of La Merveille (translated as “miracle”) on the northern side of the island.

City buildings

In record short term- in just 17 years - a monastery was created that ideally meets the requirements of ascetic life. La Merveille consists of two 3-storey sections. On the ground floor on the east side there is a room for overnight pilgrims. Above there was a hall for guests, where the abbot received high-ranking persons, and the third floor was given over to the monastery refectory. In the western wing of La Merveille, the first floor is occupied by a storage room, above which there is a scriptorium - a workshop for copying manuscripts.

View of the abbey temple

In 1470, when Louis XI founded the Knightly Order of St. Michael, the scriptorium was converted into a meeting hall. The upper floor of the western section is framed by a cloister - a covered gallery. The cloister was intended for solitary reflection and prayer, and was also used for liturgical purposes.

Mont Saint Michel - fortress island

During the 10 centuries of Mont Saint-Michel's existence, no one conquered it. The high speed of the tidal wave and the steepness of the rock made the monastery impregnable. The island occupied an important strategic position and for many years repelled Viking raids, and in 1091, during a conflict between the sons of William of Normandy, it withstood its first siege.

Street in Mont Saint Michel

During the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), Mont Saint-Michel became an arena of struggle between England and France. The British were never able to take the island. The knights guarding the fortress captured two bombards (cannons) and installed them at the city gates as a warning to any enemy. To this day, the bombards stand in the same place.

Visit to Mont Saint Michel

In 1863, Mont Saint-Michel was declared a national treasure of France and opened to tourists.. The ascent to the “mountain of the Archangel Michael” begins at the royal gates, leading to the only street on the island - Grand Rue, lined with medieval houses.

Along with the world-famous Eiffel Tower, there is another business card France. This time we will not talk about a separate building, but a whole complex that occupies the territory of a small island. This is one of the most picturesque corners of Normandy, which is rightfully considered a real monument to the history of France - this is the island-monastery of Mont Saint-Michel.

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The impressive island, based on millions of tons of granite, is only 930 meters in diameter, and highest point located at an altitude of only 92 meters above sea level. It was this place that was chosen by the Benedict monks back in the 8th century, who became its rightful owners for many centuries, building a real abbey.

There is a legend according to which the place for the construction of the monastery was chosen here not by chance. In a dream, the Archangel Michael appeared to Bishop Avranches and ordered to build a monastery on the island to commemorate the battle between the bright forces of the heavenly army and the satanic hordes that appeared in the form of a dragon. According to the vision, it was here, on the granite ledges of the island, that the fatal meeting of two eternal opponents took place - good and evil.

The construction of the monastery was financed by the Norman dukes, who saw not only a religious significance in its rough outlines, but also a strategic one. It was the island that was to become the first stronghold of the numerous Viking raids to which Normandy was systematically subjected.

The construction of the central building of the abbey lasted for 500 years, from 1017, when the first stone was laid, until 1520. And by the 12th century, the monastery became one of the main religious centers for numerous pilgrims from Europe. The final touches that completed the image of the modern monastery were made until the 17th century, as a result of which a complex complex of buildings and structures began to rise above the island, the architecture of which overlapped Gothic and Romanesque styles.

Everyone who sees this masterpiece of human creation for the first time will watch with delight and hope the structures literally climbing up the steep slopes towards the sun, the crown of which is the elegant Marvel Church. All this creates a truly mesmerizing landscape, which can only be compared with the famous creation of Eiffel. Therefore, it is not at all surprising that this grandiose complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Island crashing into the ocean

Mont Saint-Michel is capable of presenting some of the most vibrant and unforgettable impressions in the life of everyone who is lucky enough to be here. It is difficult to find the right words to convey as colorfully and accurately as possible the sensations that you experience every time you sit at a table on a restaurant terrace with a tablecloth whitewashed to a crisp and greedily absorb with your eyes the endless expanse of the ocean.

And what is the air like here! Simply saying that every breath makes you feel dizzy and your pulse beats faster in your temples will clearly not be enough. He's special here. It is the local air that is best suited to be described as sea air “saturated with centuries-old dampness.” The impressions will be especially vivid during high tide, which, like a leopard stalking its prey, approaches silently and unnoticed.

The island is located in the north-west of France and is part of a group of islands located in the bay of the same name. It is only 2 km from the mainland of the state and at low tide it is not difficult to get to it. Although, due to the local peculiarities of the sea weather, the island sometimes seems like an impregnable fort, the path to which is blocked by huge gray-green waves that crash into the rocks below.

It is interesting that, even despite such proximity to mainland France, as well as to historical Normandy, Britain has repeatedly tried to “redraw” the local borders in its favor and make the island another distant harbor for its numerous ships. This is explained by the crazy popularity of this place, with which only one place can compete with this criterion - the French capital. Because of this, the French, who have never been overly modest, called these places “the eighth wonder of the world.”

How to get there

Of course, after such a vivid description of the local beauties, the image of an ancient carriage with a forged frame, harnessed to a pair of black horses, appears in your head. It is they who must deliver the real adventurer to the wooden suspension bridge, which, having creaked down, will reveal its secrets and untold riches that have been preserved here since time immemorial. To complete the image of the ancient castle, the only thing missing here is the statues of mythical monsters - chimeras.

Perhaps a couple of centuries ago this is exactly what the path to the world famous abbey looked like. But today you can get to the Abbey of Saint-Michel much more comfortably. For example, having bought a ticket to Express train from Paris to Rennes (approximately 55.8 euros), and then transfer to a regular bus that takes travelers to the foot of the monastery (a little more than 11 euros). There is also a system of discounts, which will be a pleasant surprise for young travelers.

If you want to save money or simply prefer to travel with an ascetic bent, we recommend bus route via Pontorson. Regular bus It runs only 6 times a day, but travel costs only 5 euros. But such inconveniences will not be a serious obstacle for true adventurers.

You can go to the holy place by private car. But in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is recommended to leave the car in a specially designated place, where it will be safe during the high tide, and walk the remaining couple of kilometers of the journey.

If you decide to go to the island with the aim of replenishing your personal photo album with new photographs and your hearts with vivid impressions, we highly recommend not choosing summer months. During this period, the influx of tourists to the monastery is simply huge, which does not allow one to fully appreciate the beauty of these places. And, of course, we recommend purchasing a by-catch calendar, using which you can choose the best time for photo hunting and take simply stunning pictures of the landscapes that open from the fortress walls.

Don’t forget to take into account the peculiarities of the local climate, which obviously will not allow you to parade in a colorful sundress and light sandals. The harsh winds, which feel like full-fledged masters of these expanses, have a negative attitude towards such equipment for tourists. But the most important accompaniment during the trip should be humility. After all, it is the humble tourists who can count on enlightenment within the walls of this holy place.

Entertainment and excursions

When you get tired of looking at the raging ocean and the endless cycles of ebb and flow, you can go on a walk around the island, during which you will find a lot more interesting acquaintances and discoveries. But before that, close your eyes for a moment and imagine that this is the heyday of the medieval knightly era, and you are none other than the main character of Dumas’ favorite novel from your youth. Introduced? Then let's go!

The Royal Gate, a little rough, but created with medieval taste, pointed stone vaults, as well as a huge knight's hall and a refectory, where several hundred years ago the deep voices of the island's defenders hummed, as well as numerous winding streets, as if luring into the depths of the island - all this will require a lot of your attention and time.

Do you like mystery and different puzzles? There is more than enough of this goodness here! There are quite a few on the streets secret passages, which will lead out to another part of the monastery, and the wooden doors upholstered with iron frames make sounds that are so clearly remembered from the times of watching films about the exploits of knights and medieval castles.

All this, without a doubt, will leave an unforgettable mark in the memory of every visitor to these wondrous places and will attract again and again to plunge into the beauty and unique charm of the monastery, which is located on the island of Mont Saint-Michel.

Well, how can you ignore one of the most mysterious places on the island - a small vaulted room called “Notre Dame underground”. There are many legends and traditions that reveal the history of this mysterious place from different sides. And you should definitely get to know many of them.

Local kitchen

If you decide to go to the island, you should definitely get acquainted with the local culinary traditions. The menu of restaurants located on the island is presented national dishes Breton cuisine, the basis of which is lamb dishes. In addition, lovers of seafood, meat dishes and salads will be able to discover a lot of new things.

Before you order a meat steak or other similar dish, remember that the French prefer medium-rare, almost raw meat. Depending on the order, you will have to pay from 14 to 35 euros for dinner.

You can stay in one of the local hotels, some of which are located on the first floors of buildings that date back to the 15-16th century. From the windows hotel rooms You can enjoy marvelous landscapes until dusk, and a great mood in the morning is guaranteed by clean sea air, which will saturate your body with healthy salts and minerals in just a couple of nights.

Mont Saint Michel(Mont Saint-Michel) or Mount of the Archangel Michael is a small rocky island-fortress on the northwestern coast of France. This island is the only inhabited of the three islands in the Bay of Saint-Michel. A city was built on the island, which has existed since 709.

The abbey castle of Mont Saint-Michel is one of ten!

Plan of Mont Saint Michel:

Abbey

Wonderful building

City

Watch Terrace

The main attraction of the French province of Normandy is Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, overlooking a huge sandy bay. Since time immemorial, a huge number of pilgrims from all over Europe have flocked to this abbey in order to come into contact with the shrines.

The history of the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel began with a chapel, which was erected on a granite rock-island in 708 by the Bishop of Avranches Saint-Aubert.

Currently it has about a hundred inhabitants. In 1879, the island was connected by a 2 km long dam to the mainland. Mont Saint Michel b is a granite formation with a diameter of 930 m and a height of 92 m, which is located at the mouth of the Cusnon River. Every 24 hours 50 minutes the bay experiences high and low tides, the strongest in Europe. The water can extend 18 km from Saint-Michel and spread up to 20 km inland. At high tide the island is completely surrounded by water, and at low tide the mountain is surrounded by sand. The tide height reaches 14 meters.

Mont Saint Michel is a granite formation with a diameter of 930 m and a height of 92 m located at the mouth of the Cusnon River. Here is the highest tide in Europe, up to. 14 m. At high tide, the island is completely surrounded by water, reaching right up to the walls. At low tide the mountain is surrounded by sands.

On the southern side, the lower part of the mountain is occupied by a city surrounded by a 15th century fortress wall.

The entrance to the city is protected by a system of gates and barbicans. Through the outer gate, one enters the outer barbican, then through the Boulevard gate into the next barbican, called the Boulevard. Further beyond the moat is the large Royal Gate with an arched passage and a drawbridge. Next to the main gate there is a narrow gate with its own drawbridge. The bridge is raised by a lever-type mechanism. Adjacent to the Royal Gate, flanking it, is a round Royal Tower, the first tower of the outer wall. The outer wall, flanked by nine towers, rises along the mountainside to the abbey, and is completed by the Claudine Tower.

Inside the wall, on a slope, there is a city consisting of almost one narrow street.

In front of the entrance to the abbey there is a barbican protecting them, surrounded by a battlement with two gates. One of the gates is located on the side of the city road, others open onto the narrow Watch Terrace, which runs around the monastery from the north and ends with access to the road through a narrow door in the Claudine Tower.

The barbican is dominated by the tall, multifaceted Raven Tower and the twin round towers of the abbey's main gate. Behind the gate is the large vaulted Hall of the Guard, from which upper terrace leads the Great Staircase, passing between the lower floors of the temple building and the living quarters of the abbey.

The core of the abbey consists of two parts - the temple with the premises located underneath it, and the so-called. Miracle, a three-story tower reinforced with buttresses, adjacent to the temple on the north side.

The temple is mostly Romanesque, but the choir was built only in the 16th century. on the site of what collapsed in 1421. To prevent it from repeating the fate of its predecessor, the Crypt of the Great Columns was built at the base. Its 10 columns with a diameter of 5 m support the new choir.

The top floor of the Miracle is occupied by a courtyard with a colonnade running along the perimeter and a vaulted refectory.

Below the refectory there is a large Guest Room with two huge fireplaces at the end of the room and another fireplace in the center of the inner wall. Notable visitors were received in this hall. Next to it, under the courtyard, is the so-called. The Knights' Hall, which received this name for its splendor. The castle is decorated with numerous carved columns. This hall served as a place of work for the monks, where they copied texts.

Under the Guest Hall there was an almshouse, and under the Knight's Hall there were storage rooms. Under the temple there are numerous crypts and chapels. The total number of rooms in the abbey exceeds 50. They are connected by numerous staircases and corridors.

History of the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel

In 966, Benedictine monks, with the permission of the Pope, founded an abbey here and built a monastery with the money of the Duke of Normandy, Richard I. In 1017, Abbot Gilderbert II began construction of the central monastery building, the construction of which was fully completed only five centuries later.

Thanks to the work and faith of the Benedictine monks, a simple chapel over this long period of time turned into a majestic abbey, built from granite quarried on the Chauzet Islands.

At the beginning of the 12th century, Abbot Roger II began construction of a tower on the northern slope, which now includes the Knights' Hall and the Refectory. At this time, the abbey was already one of the pilgrimage centers of Europe. The influence of the monastery is growing. The abbey received English and French kings, and was granted several possessions in England.

Until the 14th century the monastery did not change. Successive abbots gradually built up the island. The Hundred Years' War that breaks out between England and France leads to the fact that the abbey is deprived of income from its English possessions.

During the Hundred Years' War in 1424, the British again besieged the monastery. For ten years, suffering huge losses, they tried to get beyond the castle walls to no avail. But the French defended the abbey. The British never managed to take the island, but they completely destroyed the town that had formed over the past centuries at the base of the monastery. In 1450, the English were defeated at the Battle of Formigny and expelled from Normandy.

In 1469, the French king Louis XI established the knightly order of St. Michael in the abbey. In 1523, construction of the Gothic choir began. This year, the monks are deprived of the right to choose the abbot of the monastery. Now only the king has this right. Appointed by the king and not by clergy, the so-called “abbots” are completely devoid of spirituality. This leads to the monastery's treasury being spent for other purposes. All this deprives the monks of the desire to live in a monastery. Flow of pilgrims to Abbey of Mont Saint Michel gradually dries up. By 1580, only 13 monks lived in the monastery. Fourteen years later, the bell tower is completely destroyed by a lightning strike. Due to the small number of monks, the temple remains dilapidated for decades. In 1662, the abbey, which had fallen into disrepair, was replaced by nine Benedictines from the Saint-Maur congregation.

In 1176, there was another fire that destroyed the Romanesque entrance to the temple. The current system of choosing monastery abbots continued to have its destructive effect until 1870. During the French Revolution, the abbey was closed and turned into a prison. The monks are expelled, and all things from the monastery are sold.

With the arrival of Napoleon III Mont Saint Michel regains its former glory, the prison is abolished, and the monastery is declared a national treasure of France. Work begins on its restoration.

The mid-20th century was marked by the return of the monks to the rocky island. In 1979 the abbey was included in the list World Heritage UNESCO. The French themselves think Mont Saint Michel"the eighth wonder of the world." Still active today Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, which has become a real fortress, which amazingly combined military and religious architecture, rightfully deserves this title.

Today it is an ancient abbey, stunning in its grandeur and splendor surrounding nature, receives about three million tourists a year

IN contemporary art Mont Saint-Michel served as the prototype for the fortress of Minas Tirith in the cult trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” by Peter Jackson based on the book by Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The famous English composer M. Olfrid, fascinated by the dark beauty of the island, dedicated the composition of the same name to him in the album “Voyager”. It was this island that the swindlers from the French comedy “Incorrigible” tried to save from their enemies.

The famous abbey of Mont Saint-Michel embodies the entire medieval history of France. After the French Revolution, the Benedictine abbey served as a prison, and today it is visited by tens of thousands of tourists. Nestled on a small rocky islet on the northwestern coast of France and connected by a causeway to the mainland, Mont Saint Michel Since 1979 it has been recognized as a monument of world significance.

The island, crowned with the spire of the abbey, amazes with its grandeur. During high tide (and here is the highest tide in Europe - up to 10 m) the water arrives at a speed of 20 km/h, and to the built-up high cliff(78 m) the fortress can only be reached by boats. At low tide you can simply walk on dry land without even getting your feet wet. Abbey of Mont Saint Michel- This is one of the main attractions of France and the real pride of the province of Normandy.

By attendance Abbey of Mont Saint Michel can compete with the most Eiffel Tower– more than 3.5 million people visit it annually. Small - only a kilometer in diameter and eighty meters above sea level - the island is connected to the mainland at low tide, and at high tide, perhaps the highest in the world, it is completely surrounded by the sea.

At low tide, pilgrims reached the abbey along the seabed. Now, for convenience, they have built a dam - surrealistically thin, like a stretched string. How could it be otherwise, if many thousands are trying to get to a tiny town where only 138 people live at the foot of a Gothic monastery. To tirelessly wander among the unreal, vertically inclined stone labyrinth of museums and temples, looking for ever new delightful corners.

Tradition says that Archangel Michael himself appeared to Bishop Aubert of Avranches in a dream and ordered to build a church on the rocky island. The skeptical cleric was not inclined to trust his dreams, and then the angry Archangel touched the monk with his finger (Obert’s relics are still kept in Avranches; they say the dent in the skull is quite significant). The incentive worked. In the place where the bishop discovered a grotto on the mountain, he ordered the construction of a basilica.

In the 10th century Mont Saint Michel The Benedictines moved from Saint-Vendria. And right up to the 16th century they built, built, built. There were funds - the island of the Miracle of St. Michael became one of most popular places pilgrimage. This is still the case today.

One of special places In Christianity, he occupies the image of St. Michael. This is not just an archangel, but a warrior and intercessor. He accompanies the souls of the righteous to Heavenly Jerusalem, helps them on their way and protects them from lurking demons. In addition, it is he, according to the Apocalypse, who must stand at the head of the heavenly army in the last battle of good and evil. According to biblical legend, Archangel Michael fought with Satan in the form of a dragon and plunged him into the abyss of water. The battle ended on a mountain that later received the name Mount St. Michael. This is probably why temples high in the mountains are traditionally dedicated to St. Michael. The famous abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, which is located on a small (about 900 meters in circumference) rocky island of the same name and which was destined to become one of the main pilgrimage centers of medieval Europe, was built on the same principle.

Associated with the emergence of the abbey beautiful legend. In 708, the city of Avrange, located in the north of Brittany, near its border with Normandy, was ruled by Bishop Aubert. One night the bishop heard the voice of St. Michael, who demanded that an island rock, located next to the city and separated from it by a strait, be dedicated to him.

Ober did nothing, believing that he had been misled by his visions. The Archangel appeared to the bishop several times, predicting miracles that he would perform in order to strengthen Christians in their faith and convince the bishop. For example, one of the miraculous deeds of the archangel was a flying bull seen by people, which was then found on the top of a rock. The Archangel was impatient with the bishop's inaction and, on his next visit, plunged his finger into Aubert's skull, finally convincing him (the bishop's skull with a regular rounded hole is still kept in a glass cube in the abbey).

After this, Bishop Aubert, as Michael demanded, sent his people to Italy, to Monte Gorgano - since it was believed that the Holy Angel in Rome and Mount Monte Gorgano on a rocky island in the Adriatic were the traditional places of the appearance of the archangel. They returned and brought sacred relics - a piece of the red robe that the archangel wore during one of his apparitions and a fragment of the sacrificial stone on which he placed his foot.

Upon their return, Aubert began the construction of a chapel on Mont Tomb (the original name of the island). People's work was facilitated by the intervention of divine forces - for example, a large stone that was hindering construction was turned out by the light touch of a child; there was a shortage on the mountain drinking water- a miracle helped to find a source of life-giving moisture, which was then called the Saint Aubert fountain. Thus Aubert settled on a rocky islet, which gradually became known as Mount St. Michael, in order to devote himself to the service of God and his archangel.

In 966, the Duke of Normandy gave the island to the Order of Benedictine monks, who founded Abbey of Mont Saint Michel. Construction on the island continued until the 19th century, gradually turning the island into a small town. Wonderful Gothic architectural ensemble The abbey is crowned by a beautiful church located on the top of the island, at an altitude of about 90 meters above sea level. It is built on three crypts, the oldest of which dates back to Carolingian times.

The building's impressive nave was built in the 11th century in Romanesque style, and its eastern chancel (choir) was rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic style in 1450-1521. The floor of the church is on the same level as the third floor of the adjacent monastery buildings, which gives the structure the appearance of a stern and impregnable stronghold. The tower and spire, topped by a statue of St. Michael, date from a later period - they were built in the 19th century.

The outer walls of the beautiful Gothic monastery of La Merville, which means "The Miracle" (13th century), combine the power of a fortress and simplicity church architecture. The monastery is decorated with double rows of columns supporting pointed arches with wonderful floral patterns and a huge number of sculptures. The most remarkable part of the building is the refectory with high narrow windows and the romantic Hall of Knights, where the proud defenders of the fortress gathered. Below the monastery buildings are clustered residential buildings, some of which date back to the 15th century. The only street that exists here runs through the island, and most of the buildings are connected to each other by complex internal passages and steep staircases.

Extremely difficult to access due to its island position, the monastery in the 13th century was additionally surrounded on the southern and eastern sides by powerful defensive walls with round towers and projections and with a single fortress gate.

Thanks to this, the abbey successfully withstood sieges during the Hundred Years' War between England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries and during the French Wars of Religion in the second half of the 16th century.

In the 18th century, the abbey fell into disrepair and was closed during the French Revolution. From the time of Napoleon I to 1863 Mont Saint Michel was a state prison, and then was declared a historical monument and restored. Now Mont Saint Michel is one of the main tourist centers France.

Over the past centuries the sea has receded and now most of the time Mont Saint Michel surrounded by shifting sands, and only during high tides does it become an island. Such tides are observed here during the autumn and spring equinoxes - the water level rises by 10 meters per day - these are the strongest tides in France, and at low tide the sea moves 25 kilometers from the coast. Now a dam has been built and a highway connects the island to the mainland, making it convenient for visiting.

And as a result of changes in the contours of the shores, vast areas appeared that were completely abandoned by the water. This one is salty sea water the soil gradually became overgrown with grass, which the sheep liked very much. The meat of sheep bred here contains excess salt and has a special taste - it is almost immediately suitable for consumption; their wool also has special properties - things made from this wool turn out to be very fluffy.

In 1874, Mont Saint Michel was recognized as a State Historic Monument.
In 1972, UNESCO added Mont Saint Michel to the List of World Heritage Sites.
The French consider Mont Saint-Michel and its bay the “eighth wonder of the world,” and the Europeans consider it “the wonder of Western Europe.”
When the tide goes out, you can go around Mount Saint-Michel, but you need to be careful and don’t go too far from the foot of the mountain - there is a high probability of getting into quicksand.
The castle island of Mont Saint-Michel was the prototype for the fortress of Minas Tirith in the popular film “The Lord of the Rings”.
In our time Mont Saint Michel becomes an island only 2 times a year. This happens due to the fact that over the past centuries the sea has receded - now most of the time the castle is surrounded by sands, but 2 times a year (during the autumn and spring equinoxes) during strong tides it becomes

Victor Hugo wrote about the significance of this place for the French: “Mont Saint Michel is for France what the pyramids are for Egypt.” Traveling with Gennady.

Border between French provinces Normandy and Brittany, off the coast of the English Channel passes along the bed of the Couesnon River. Here, at the confluence of the river into the Bay of Saint Michel, on a granite island is located iconic place for the French - Mont St. Michel, which translates as: - Mount St. Michael.

It is difficult to talk about the island-abbey-fortress of Mont Saint Michel. The number of different events, stories and legends associated with it is enormous. It seems to me impossible to mention everything and keep it within a reasonable size. I'm sure I'm missing something interesting or I just don't know. The place is so popular that someone must have been there. Therefore, I ask you to supplement my note with stories, impressions, and photographs.

The characteristic silhouette of the abbey among the low, flat coast appears on the horizon several tens of kilometers away, and we drove for about another hour until we reached the parking lot near it.

This castle-abbey is often rightly called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Everything is wonderful here: amazing natural phenomena, its involvement in significant historical events for Europe, wonderful buildings, and the atmosphere itself. impregnable fortress, located on a small rocky island. Undoubtedly, Mont Saint Michel even today influenced the architecture of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland Paris and became the prototype for the fortress of Minas Tirith in J. R. R. Tolkien’s trilogy “The Lord of the Rings” and in the film based on it.

During the time of the ancient Romans, Mont Saint Michel was not yet an island. The gloomy uninhabited rock was then called Grave Mountain. The Celts may have used this site for their burials. The Druids came here to worship the setting sun, and the Romans subsequently preserved this ritual for a long time. According to one of the legends, it was on Mogilnaya Hill that Julius Caesar was secretly buried - in a golden coffin, wearing golden sandals.

There are several versions of the origin of the island of Mont Saint Michel. The most plausible one claims that at the beginning of the 5th century, after a strong storm in this part of the English Channel changed coastline. Part of the coast sank, coastal meadows and forests disappeared under water and were then covered with sand, and two rocky hills became islands. The largest among them, Mont Tombe (French for “Tomb Hill”), now bears the name Mont Saint Michel. The little one is named Tombelen (“Little Grave”).

According to another version, both rocks were dragged into the sea by giants - the parents of Gargantua. Grangousier, his father, as is customary among men, carried the heaviest of the stones - Mont Tombe, and Gargamelle, Gargantua's mother, carried Tombelen. But the giants got tired and threw these stones close to the shore. Gargantua himself was also noted here in land management - through his efforts the Couesnon River appeared. It’s easy to guess how.

Everyone chooses which version to believe, but the fact remains that two islands rise in the Bay of Saint Michel, and the tides in this place are among the highest in the entire World Ocean. Twice a year, when the solar and lunar tides add up, the height of the total tide can reach ~14 meters. Due to the low and gentle shores, the sea near the abbey at this time retreats/advances by 15-20 kilometers, exposing the bottom - quicksand of clay-limestone origin. And so twice a day. It is not difficult to calculate that the speed at which sea water rushes in corresponds to the speed of a fast pedestrian, and due to the uneven terrain, in some places it can reach the speed of a galloping horse. It is not surprising that in the long history of this place, not everyone has been able to escape the tide.

The following two photographs were taken by me from the same place in the abbey during not very strong high and low tides. I took this photo at high tide.

and this is when the tide began and was still going on...

There are legends about tides catching up with the rider, stories about carts disappearing without a trace along with horses in huge quicksands, descriptions of the terrible death of travelers dragged into wet sand. The low tide in the bay always begins somehow unexpectedly: just recently, everywhere you look, a whitish-muddy sea splashed, and sand of the same color appeared everywhere, the treachery of which almost all the French classics were “hypnotized” - from Hugo to Maupassant. This sand seems quite harmless until you descend onto its treacherously unsteady surface, covered in puddles from the recently receding water.

Unfortunately, we did not catch the time of the highest tide, but to complete the picture I will insert here a photo from the Internet - the island of Mont Saint Michel at high tide.

In the 70s of the 19th century, due to the increased number of visitors to the abbey, the island was connected to the shore by a dam. However, the dam disrupted the natural circulation of water in the bay and it began to be filled with sand and silt to such an extent that at the end of the 20th century the island was only fully functional only during the highest tides twice a year. Therefore, in the early 2000s, the dam was destroyed and a bridge was built across which you can now drive to the gates of the abbey itself, but only by public transport.

The current appearance of the mountain is the result of repeated redevelopment, destruction, rampant elements, fires, human delusions and exploits. This religious building It also has great secular significance. Here they not only prayed, but also fought and plotted.

The history of the abbey of Mont Saint Michel began with a chapel, which was erected on a granite rock-island in 708 by the Bishop of Avranches Saint-Aubert. One of the legends says that the Archangel Michael appeared to the archbishop in a dream and ordered him to build a chapel on the island. The bishop thought that he had imagined it and decided to wait. The Archangel appeared again with the same order, but the bishop turned out to be difficult to climb and disobeyed again. The third time, the archangel literally hammered into the bishop the idea of the need to build a chapel, he pressed a hole in the bishop’s head, which was finally able to convince him to begin building the church - this is how the Basilica of St. Michael appeared. This is certainly hard to believe, but evidence of this event has been preserved. At Avenches, where the relics of Saint Aubert are located, there is actually a dent in his skull.

In the mid-10th century, Benedictine monks, with the permission of the Pope, founded an abbey here and built a monastery with the money of the Duke of Normandy. Soon the rock on the island of Mont Saint Michel became famous place pilgrimage, and its history began to be carefully monitored.

In the next century, a Romanesque church with a monastery appeared on the mountain. The work on building the abbey was not easy and dragged on until the mid-12th century. Abbot Robert de Torigny made a huge effort and turned the island of Mont Saint Michel into a center of scientific thought. At the same time, priests began to play a prominent role in the political life of the region.

In 1204, King Philip Augustus of France captured Normandy. The ally of the French king, Guy de Tours, captured and burned the settlement near the monastery, as a result of which the monastery itself was seriously damaged by the fire. Philip Augustus, in order to atone for his guilt, donates a huge sum to the abbey, and also finances the construction of a structure on the northern slope, later called the Miracle. In 1128, the construction of the Miracle was completed. Until the 14th century, the architecture of the monastery did not change. Successive abbots gradually built up the island. In that unique place There are buildings of different styles and eras, which adds beauty to the architecture.

In 1356, the British attempted to take the monastery, but the siege was unsuccessful. In 1386, the abbot of the monastery, Pierre Roy, for security purposes, significantly strengthened the entrance to the monastery, and also built three towers. Subsequently, Abbot Robbert Jolivet, who replaced Roy, erected fortress walls at the foot of the monastery.
During the Hundred Years' War in 1424, the British again besieged the monastery. For ten years, suffering huge losses, they tried to get beyond the castle walls to no avail. But the French defended the abbey. The British never managed to take the island, but they completely destroyed the town that had formed over the past centuries at the base of the monastery. In 1450, the English were defeated at the Battle of Formigny and expelled from Normandy.

But the monastery, which survived the religious wars, turned out to be defenseless against the revolutionaries, and in 1792 the troops drove out the last monks, and the territory was turned into a prison, which was popularly nicknamed the “provincial Bastille.”

With the arrival of Napoleon III, Mont Saint Michel regains its former glory, the prison is abolished, and the monastery is declared a national treasure of France. Work begins on its restoration. The mid-20th century was marked by the return of the monks to the rocky island. In 1979, the abbey was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The island is currently inhabited. In addition to the Benedictine monks, about 70 people live on it, it even has its own city hall, police, hospital, and hotel. Residents of the island mainly serve tourists.

Due to the large number of visitors, travel to the island is currently limited. Private traffic is not allowed on this bridge. The vast majority of those who come on excursions leave their buses in the village, on the shore and travel to the gates of Mont Saint Michel on the free shuttles or simply stroll along the bridge. Fortunately, the walk is only about a kilometer and all the time with a view of the castle.

Those who, like us, come on their own, by car, leave their cars even further away - in parking lots about 3 kilometers away and also take a shuttle to the monastery gates.

In principle, there are one-day bus excursions to Mont Saint Michel all the way from Paris. You can also “unorganized” turn around from there in one day by train/bus. However, if you have already come here, it is better to stay overnight. In terms of the number of visitors, Mont Saint Michel ranks second in all of France after Paris. Up to 3.5 million tourists per year! And many of them stay in local hotels on the coast. But even outside the walls of the fortress there are several hotels, in houses of the 15th-16th centuries with a limited number of rooms. Rooms there usually need to be booked well in advance. Or be very lucky. We were lucky! Even at the beginning of summer, we, according to best recommendations tripadvisor, we booked a place in a hotel on the coast, near the beginning of the bridge to the island, so that we could walk to the abbey. Just for the sake of order, sometimes we looked to see how things were going behind the walls. Just a week before our trip, a room became available in one of the most famous hotels in Mont Saint Michel - La Mere Poulard.

The list of famous guests of this hotel with only 27 rooms is quite impressive. Stayed here: Hemingway, Spielberg, Yves Saint Laurent, President Roosevelt, the last emperor of Japan, various kings and queens. Well, now we do too, naturally. :))

We got a room in which the Russian prince Felix Yusupov and the French choreographer Serge Lefar had previously lived at different times, as evidenced by the autograph signs on the walls.

However, what surprised us most was that the price was cheaper than the room we had to refuse - 130 euros per night. Most likely it was because someone backed out at the last minute and we just got lucky. The regular price for our room on the hotel website is 340 euros per night.

Wandering around the island and the Mont Saint Michel Abbey, we could not shake the feeling that we were walking through a 3D labyrinth. Sometimes, in order to get into a building adjacent to the plan, it was necessary to go up or down to another level and then cross to the side. Therefore, the plan of the island-abbey is simply necessary to have before your eyes. You can take a piece of paper with a description of the abbey at the entrance, otherwise the monastery will turn into a series of walls and stairs.

This diagram shows:

1. Abbey
2. Miracle structure
3. City
4. Watch terrace
5. External gate
6. Boulevard Gate
7. Royal Gate
8. Royal Tower
9. Arcade tower
10. Freedom Tower
11. Low tower
12. Tower "Buckle"
13. Church of San Pierre
14. North Tower
15. Claudine Tower
16. Dam
17. Gabriel Tower
18. Strengthening warehouses
19. Chapel of Saint-Aubert
20. Saint-Aubert Source

Spending the night inside the city walls on the island has a huge advantage - the island is empty in the morning and evening. Indeed, 3.5 million per year is just under 10,000 people per day. This is what the main street of the town looks like during the usual flow of visitors (the first photo I came across from the Internet).

And this is the same place in the evening, when only those living inside the walls remain.

And the abbey itself looks especially gothic in the evening hours.

To get to the fortress you need to go through several gates:

External gate

Boulevard Gate

and the Royal Gate with drawbridge

In medieval fortification architecture, gates were considered a weak point and such an entrance was necessary. Just outside the Entrance Gate, in memory of the 100-year war, this cannon, captured from the British, was installed.

Mont Saint Michel is a symbol of resistance for the French during the 100 Years' War. During all this time, the island was never taken by the British. There was a moment when the abbey was already preparing to surrender, but by chance 119 French knights were billeted there, who took over the defense and held it continuously for 10 years, from 1424 to 1434. All of Normandy was in the hands of the British and only Mont Saint Michel remained unconquered.

Behind the royal gates, the main and only street of the fortress begins - Grand Rue, which crosses the entire town located below, at the base of the cliff. It is full of shops, hotels, souvenir shops, there is a city hall, a parish church and even a cemetery. The peculiarity of this village is that its houses and fortress walls with towers are built on sand!

At the very beginning of the Grand Rue, almost at the Royal Gate, our hotel with a world-famous restaurant was located "Mother Pulyar." His story is this. In the last quarter of the 19th century, when restoration work began at the abbey, Edouard Corroyer, who at that time held the post of chief architect of Mont Saint Michel, settled here. Not a single inn was to his taste, and therefore he appointed his cook Annette Butio as the innkeeper. Soon she married a certain Victor Pulyar, and in 1888 she opened the “Mother Pulyar” tavern. Despite the fact that delicious dishes were prepared here from a variety of products, Annette Poulard’s signature dish was omelette. This fact is easy to explain. It is prepared easily and quickly. For weary travelers it is a snack while waiting for other dishes; for the poor it is the main meal. And during fasting and abstinence, it is a meal for everyone. Mother Poulard's omelet recipe is kept secret. However, the price for this omelette is now not at all humane - 30-35 euros, depending on the filling. Well from personal experience I note that despite such inflated prices in other restaurants “outside the fortress walls,” both lunch and dinner turned out to be not great. Not at all French, which was generally confirmed by subsequent reviews of reviews on Tripadvisor.

There are several narrow alleys leading up from the main street.

In addition to the streets and alleys, it is interesting to wander along the walls of the fortress from where you can see views of the town and the sea bay

Houses in the town of Mont Saint Michel

The powerful walls of the abbey are overgrown with moss and lichen, which makes it even more seem that this fortress-monastery is a creation of nature, not man.

Naturally, by spending the night inside the fortress in the morning, you can get on an excursion to the abbey itself before the shuttles bring the first tourists from the mainland. Here, by the way, we encountered classic “French hospitality”. It had been raining since morning, and ten minutes before the opening, a dozen people had gathered on the stairs under the canopy at the entrance, waiting for ticket sales to begin at 9:30. About five minutes before the start, some boss appeared, kicked everyone out from under the canopy into the rain and stretched a ribbon across the stairs, arguing that it was not supposed to and repeating like a spell in broken English: - This is not possible.

The architecture of Mont Saint Michel seems to reflect medieval European society. On the lower tier is the city, where the class of working commoners and peasants lived. Above, on the middle level, there are buildings intended for the class of defenders - knights and kings. At the top of the mountain stands an abbey where the clergy settled. The abbey is crowned by a tall spire with a gilded figure of the Archangel Michael.

An exact copy of the figure from the spire

Tours of the abbey begin at the gates protected by a small castle built in 1393 by Abbot Pierre Le Roy. Behind them begins the climb up a steep staircase, nicknamed "The Abyss"

The Benedictines dreamed that Mont Saint Michel would become a kind of hymn to the glory of the Almighty. However, it was not possible to place a huge cathedral building on top of the rock that could accommodate all the pilgrims. In 1023, construction began on the cathedral in the Romanesque style, which was completed only in 1520 in the Gothic style.

Nave of the church.

Church window

View of the monastery church, bell tower and spire from the cloister (monastery courtyard with gallery) of La Merveille. The gaze involuntarily turns to the sky.

In 1204, Philip Augustus annexed the Duchy of Normandy, which had been under English rule since 1066, to the Kingdom of France. Breton soldiers, who marched on the side of France, set fire to Mont Saint Michel. The buildings north of the cathedral were destroyed. However, thanks to the generosity of Philip Augustus, buildings were built in their place in a record for that time 17 years La Merveille(Miracle).

TO Loitre La Merveille, located at the exit from the church, perfect place for prayer and reflection. It, like other buildings of La Merveille, was built at the beginning of the 13th century in

Colonnade of the cloister at Mont Saint Michel

From the height of the cloister to the east, the second granite island of the bay, Tomblen, is clearly visible.

The abbot lived in contact with the pilgrims, while the monks took refuge in the monastery. From the east, on the south-eastern side of the island, rise the abbey apartments, built in the 13th-16th centuries. The fortress garrison was located directly below them.

During the French Revolution, when the abbey served as a prison, the Miracle building housed a straw hat factory.

The first punishment cells appeared in the abbey in the 12th century. Monks who committed serious crimes and those whom the abbot sent to trial were sent here. At the end of the 15th century, by order of King Louis XI, a small part of the abbey was turned into a state prison, the “Bastille of the Sea,” as it was called. Extremely cramped cells were built where it was impossible to either stand up or lie down at full height. In addition, the prisoners were chained to the wall with a chain that jingled with every movement. Huge cages with stakes protruding inside were also built, where the person was essentially immobilized. As a rule, prisoners died within a year. Between 1666 and 1786, 153 prisoners were in this state prison.

In 1793, revolutionaries announced the closure of the monastery and the transfer of property to the state. Mont Saint Michel, renamed Mont Libre (Mount of Liberty) turned into a prison (prison - Mount of Liberty, well - quite revolutionary), which existed until 1863. During this time, 14,000 prisoners visited here. At first, these were priests and peasants, opponents of the Revolution. Then - political prisoners and criminals.

In 1820, when the abbey was still a prison, a wheel was installed there. It was used to lift food for the prisoners upstairs. Similar wheels were also used in the Middle Ages for lifting various cargoes. Such wheels were driven by a horse, which actually lived in the wheel. Sometimes prisoners were also used.

The load was lifted by a chain on such a sled

Which moved along stone guides

Now the prison premises are connected by a staircase to the Hall of Knights, located on the next tier

It received its name in honor of the Order of the Knights of St. Michael, founded in 1469 by Louis XI. This was a workroom for monks. It is assumed that tapestries were hung in it, dividing the hall into small sections and an isolated passage through which guests entered the church.

The hall was heated using two huge fireplaces.

The guest hall was intended for noble pilgrims, including kings. Here they shared a meal with the abbot.

Eating with the monks is a significant event for the entire brethren, so the hall where everything happens was built with technical and aesthetic innovations corresponding to the time. Thick walls support light round arches. In order not to weaken the wall, the windows are made narrow and deep. During silent meals, one monk read the Holy Scriptures from a pulpit located on the southern partition.

The first excursion arriving from the mainland finally caught up with us at the Refectory. It turned out to be Chinese.

Their guide chirped energetically for about ten minutes, and then we still managed to catch the last period before the influx of the main wave of tourists.

In the afternoon, when the number of visitors reached its maximum, we left the island.

and went to neighboring Brittany, to the oyster capital of France, to the town on the western shore of the Bay of Saint Michel - Cancale.