le Merveille de l'Occident



Mont Saint Michel, the The marvel of the west, was begun during the middle ages in the year 966, exactly one hundred years before the Norman Invasion. It rises on a small rocky island just off the coast of Brittany. Connected to the mainland by a dike, the island is only about 300 yards across. This bay has the strongest tides in Europe which helped Le Mont Saint Michel to be an impregnable fortress. The land along the coast is flat so you can see fairytale-like outline of Le Mont Saint Michel from all around the bay. For six consecutive centuries, the Duke of Normandy and pilgrims would finance a colossal scheme of buildings in spite of the huge difficulties of building on an island that could only be reached by foot. During the One Hundred Years War in the 14th century, it became necessary to build a defensive system so that the abbey could be protected. The fortress withstood an English siege lasting thirty years. In September 1591, the Count of Montgomery tried to take the fortified place by trickery: He took a Norman soldier prisoner and offered him money to hang a rope from the abbey to help English soldiers enter the monastery. The Norman soldier felt guilty and told the truth to the monks. They dropped the rope as planned and English soldiers used it to climb the walls. One after one, they were killed when coming over the fortified walls Here is the Mont with its skirt of sand. Click on it to make the tide come in. The bay surrounding the island is very shallow and at low tide the island is surrounded not by water but by dangerous sand banks which are continually changing and replete with quicksand. The tides can be high as 40 feet. They come in over the sands at the speed of a trotting horse. People do regularly walk several miles across the bay to the Mont but only with careful attemtion to the tide tables and always, always in the company of a guide. Trying the hike by yourself is very dangerous if not fatal. Looking down from the wall we see its shadow start to climb the inclined street. Soon the crowds will be gone. As the long summer evening slowly slips into night canny travelers such as we linger over our cups and wait for the real magic of Mont Saint Michel to begin. We wait for "Les Imaginaires". "Les Imaginaires"is a sort of "son et lumi�re" presentation taking place above in the Abbey. As soon as it is fully dark, that is around 10:30 PM, the abbey is closed for a time while a transformation takes place. Artifacts and sculpture, some ancient, some modern are brought out from their hiding places and dressed under special lighting. Individual music, again from all ages, has been chosen and sometimes composed for each chamber. When all is ready the gates are reopened and you are allowed to wander through the maze of corridors and rooms at your own pace, finally arriving at the church at the very pinnacle of the island. The climb begins at the end of the street with these steps. Click on the picture to follow the route to the top. Atop the highest steeple of Le Mont St. Michel, the absolute highest point on the island, rises the gold statue of Saint Michael. Devotion to this archangel had great significance in medieval life. Archangel Michael had three important tasks: 1) He weighed peoples souls in order to separate the elect and the damned. 2) He led the elected to heaven and protected them from any lurking demons. 3) He guarded the gates of Paradise. Therefore high mountain peaks, being close to heaven, and high steeples above churches were dedicated to Saint Michael. Miquelots were pilgrims who came from far away places to this abbey to honor the cult of St. Michael. The abbey was also a renowned center of medieval learning. It is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.
One night each year on Bastille Day the mont is framed in fireworks.