Mont St. Michel History

Perched on a 264 feet high rock formation sits Mont St. Michel. During the seasons highest tides the abbey is surrounded by water. During low tide the flats provide food for the world's only herd of salt water plant eating sheep. Mont St. Michel's tides can rush in at incredible speeds. It's not uncommon to hear an announcement in French over the islands PA system that a car must be moved from the auxiliary parking lot within minutes or be completely underwater. The sea can rise 45 ft. during high tide.

Mont St. Michel (named after the arch-angel St. Michael) is known as the Merveille de l'Occident or Wonder of the Western World. The granite used to build the abbey was transported by boat from the nearby Isles of Chausey. Construction of the original abbey took more than 500 years, from 1017 to 1521.

The origins of Mont St. Michel can be traced back to a legend that has the archangel Michael appearing in a series of dreams to Aubert, Bishop of Avranches. Saint Michael implores Aubert to build a church on what was then a barren rock called Mont Tombe. The original church structure was completed in 1144, but other buildings were added in the 13th century to accommodate monks and pilgrims who flocked to the abbey even when the Mont was in English hands during the Hundred Year's War. The Monks of Mont St. Michel were revered for their copying skills before the printing press was widely in use. The Romanesque Choir was rebuilt in the popular Gothic style during the 15th and the 16th Centuries. The abbey's monastic independence was undermined during the 17th century, when the monks began to flout the strict rules and discipline of their order, drifting into a state of decadence that culminated in their dispersal from the abbey. Mont St. Michel then served as a prison for a period of time.

In 1874, the abbey was handed over to a government agency responsible for the preservation of historic monuments.  Emmanuel Fremiet's great gilt statute of St-Michael was added to the spire in 1897. Currently Monks live and work here again, just as in medieval times: you can join them for daily mass at 12:15 pm.