Travel France Mont-St-Michel has attracted pilgrims since medieval times—including several kings from France and England. With the development of a Benedictine abbey, it became a renowned center for learning, and many manuscripts were produced there.
Swept Away by Mont-St-Michel
The origins of this mesmerizing French island are steeped in dreams and legends
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By Tim Johnson ising from the sea like something from a fairy tale, MontSaint-Michel challenges your sense of reality. An island that’s sometimes not an island. A geological wonder that’s also a geographic oddity. A fortress and an abbey and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At high tide, the whole place seems to hover over the water, and when it’s out, the seemingly impregnable surroundings become a sandy stretch explored by the curious and the brave. But one thing is certain: When you arrive and see it for the first time— ramparts, stonework, and buildings that seem to grow right out of the granite, all crowned by a soaring steeple capped by an angel—you won’t quite believe your eyes. Situated in the English Channel just off France’s Normandy coast, a visit here will take you back
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The three-tiered Marveille rises 115 feet. On the lowest layer is the chaplaincy. On the second, a dining hall. On top, the cloisters and the monks’ refectory.
some 1,300 years. It’s currently home to fewer than 50 people, mostly monks and nuns who reside in the abbey. Once you arrive, go wander (and maybe get lost). Enter through the King’s Gate and make your way through the shops and cafes along the Grande Rue. Sit and soak up the haunting sound of a hymn in the abbey. Be still, and watch the transformation created by the tides. And it all started with a dream—actually, three—or so the legend goes. They say that back in the early eighth century, the archangel Michael (Michel, in French) appeared to Aubert, the bishop of Avranches, in his sleep. Twice, Michael told the man to establish a sanctuary in his name on what was then known as Monte-Tombe. The third time, he drove home the point, poking his finger into the bishop’s skull. Aubert responded, sending messengers to bring back the relics of the archangel from Italy, then dedicated the sanctuary in the year 709. (As a side trip, it’s worth checking out the Church of Saint-Gervais in Avranches,
