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52-584: A tidal passage separated the north of Guernsey from the rest of Guernsey. Earthworks dating from 500 to 600 BC, comprising a double ditch and bank, indicate that an Iron Age fort existed on the hill where Vale Castle now sits. Around A.D. 968, monks from the Benedictine monastery of Mont Saint-Michel , came to Guernsey to establish the Abbey of St Michael, a community in the north of the island. According to tradition, Robert II, Duke of Normandy (the father of William

104-505: A €200 million project ( Projet Mont-Saint-Michel ) 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

156-812: A church on the rocky islet. 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

208-460: 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. 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. Mont-Saint-Michel

260-508: 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, French prime minister Dominique de Villepin and regional authorities announced

312-920: A well. In 1615 it was the requirement of the island to maintain the Vale castle, as against the Crown which maintained Castle Cornet . During the nine years of the English Civil War, Parliamentarian troops may have been stationed in Vale Castle as Castle Cornet supported the Royalist cause whilst the Island of Guernsey supported the Parliamentarian cause. Extensive repairs were recommended in 1680. The American Revolutionary War , which made France an enemy, resulted in barracks and other improvements being added. The French Revolution

364-522: Is a World Wonder in Civilization VI . 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. The castle is also the inspiration for the site of the climactic final battle in

416-523: Is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy , France. The island 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). As of 2019 ,

468-694: Is available at Bordeaux or off Castle Road. The castle is becoming popular for music festivals and private parties. The Vale Earth Fair has been held in the Castle for over 40 years. The public can walk through the German era trenches and view Tobruk pits, MG positions and a personnel shelter. 49°29′6.5″N 2°30′32.9″W  /  49.485139°N 2.509139°W  / 49.485139; -2.509139 Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel ( French pronunciation: [lə mɔ̃ sɛ̃ miʃɛl] ; Norman : Mont Saint Miché ; English: Saint Michael 's Mount )

520-500: Is credited with adding major fortifications to the abbey-mount, building towers, successive courtyards, and strengthening the ramparts. The islet belongs to the French commune of Le Mont-Saint-Michel, in the département of Manche , in Normandy. The nearest significant town, with an SNCF train station, is Pontorson , with a population of slightly over 4,000. Mont-Saint-Michel belongs to

572-579: 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. In 1067, the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel gave its support to William

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624-442: Is of irregular plan on a hill. It is roughly built with six rounded towers connected with curtain walls and a square gatehouse. The coast is on the south and east and to the west was low lying marsh. Under the medieval outer bank was a small turf bank which contained pottery dating to 500-600 BC with similar pottery found in a second bank under the 14th Century military buildings inside the walls. This hillfort, with its double-bank,

676-559: 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 . Vale Earth Fair The Vale Earth Fair is an annual festival held on the Channel Island of Guernsey that promotes music and the arts, and

728-591: Is the longest running such festival in the Channel Islands. Launched in 1976, the festival takes place each year at Vale Castle , and is organised by a group of volunteers. Profits from the event are donated to charity, and also used towards staging the festival. Charities that have benefitted from the Vale Castle Fair event include Free Tibet , the Burma Campaign UK and Safer Guernsey . The 2020 event

780-519: Is unique in Guernsey. Large excavations took place in 1980. These indicated that the original construction date for the late medieval works was around 1370–1400. The whole of the Chateau de Marais was listed as a Protected Monument on 26 March 1938, reference PM124. Vale Castle is open to the public. It accessible on foot with entry free of charge except on days when private events are staged. Free parking

832-414: The pré salé (salt meadow) makes agneau de pré-salé ( ' salt-meadow / 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. 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

884-666: The English Channel naval campaign (1338–1339) , the French captured the island and then the castle, where they put its defenders to death. The occupying forces withdrew in 1340 after the Battle of Sluys crippled the French navy. In 1372 Owain Lawgoch , a claimant to the Welsh throne, led a free company on behalf of France in an attack on Guernsey. The assault was popularly called “La Descente des Aragousais”. Owain Lawgoch withdrew after killing 400 of

936-707: 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. Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay were added to

988-503: 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. 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

1040-579: The Organization of World Heritage Cities . Since June 2001, following the appeal addressed to them in 2000 by Jacques Fihey , Bishop of Coutances and Avranches, 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

1092-524: 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

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1144-511: 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

1196-620: 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 . During the Hundred Years' War , English forces unsuccessfully besieged Mont-Saint-Michel (which

1248-525: The Conqueror ), was journeying to England in 1032 to help Edward the Confessor. He was obliged to take shelter in Guernsey and gave land, now known as the Clos du Valle, to the monks. In 1061, when pirates attacked and pillaged the island, a complaint was made to Duke William. He sent over Sampson D'Anneville, who succeeded, with the aid of the monks, in driving the pirates out. For this service, Sampson D'Anneville and

1300-493: 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. Charles VI

1352-613: The Rings: The Return of the King , Gondor 's capital city, Minas Tirith, is modelled on Mont-Saint-Michel. 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. 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 ,

1404-638: The States as homes. The last modifications to the castle were the work of Organisation Todt workers in 1942–4 on behalf of the German occupiers . They demolished the barracks and built four concrete machine-gun positions, three 5 cm mortar positions, trenches, four tobruk pits , and personnel shelters. The defences in Stützpunktgruppe Talfeste also featured flame throwers, two 60 cm searchlight positions, and two 10.5cm K331(f) field guns . The Castle

1456-482: 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. In June 2023, President Emmanuel 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. In

1508-451: 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. 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

1560-466: 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

1612-618: 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. It is visited by more than three million people each year, and is the most-visited tourist attraction in France outside of Paris. Over 60 buildings within

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1664-458: The commune are protected as historical monuments . 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. 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

1716-520: 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. 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

1768-480: 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

1820-430: The island had a population of 29. 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. Louis XI recognised

1872-484: The island militia, The poem of the same name refers to the castle as the Château de l'Archange , the location of the last ditch stand against the insurgents. Granite curtain walls and a gatehouse were added in the 15th century, with other repairs and improvements to walls and installing buttresses being made over the next century. A powder house, guardroom, and houses for the garrison were added around this time. The castle has

1924-464: 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 . On rare occasions, tidal circumstances produce an extremely high "supertide". The new bridge

1976-428: The monks were rewarded with a grant of half the island between them. The portion going to the monastery, known as Le Fief St Michel , included the land where the castle is located. The castle of Saint Michael (now Vale Castle), was constructed to protect the population against pirates by providing a safe refuge. It is not possible to identify when the medieval works were started, possibly in the late 10th century. During

2028-464: The most urgent. He wrote four works on the building and his name remains forever attached to the resurrection of Mont-Saint-Michel. 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

2080-415: 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. 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 2012, the community undertook

2132-553: The mount, monks included, except for those in hotels. There are 132 hotel rooms within the island's walls. The main institutions are shared by: Overtourism is a problem for Mont-Saint-Michel, exascerbated by tourists mostly visiting on day-trips, which causes overcrowding from 10:00 to 16:00, especially in the summer. The Mont-Saint-Michel foundation has introduced measures to change this pattern and reduce daytime overcrowding, including by introducing free parking after 18:30, except during July and August. Historically, Mont-Saint-Michel

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2184-405: The reclaiming of Braye du Valle in 1806-8 saw the end of the separation of Le Clos du Valle, previously a tidal island , which improved the ability to move troops and better protect the island. The nearby port of St Sampson was expanded with additional trade through the harbor. During World War I the local militia had a small garrison in the castle and between the wars the barracks were used by

2236-520: The renovation of a house on the mount, the Logis Saint-Abraham, which is used as a guest house for pilgrims on retreat. The Mont-Saint-Michel has long "belonged" to some families who shared the businesses in the town and ran the village administration. Tourism is almost the sole source of income of the commune, bringing US$ 63 million to the small island in 2014. There are about 50 shops for three million tourists. About 25 people sleep every night on

2288-508: 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. 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

2340-410: 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

2392-460: 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

2444-572: The younger parts of the Mancellian granitic batholith . 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. The mount has a circumference of about 960 m (3,150 ft) and its highest point is 92 m (302 ft) above sea level . The tides vary greatly, at roughly 14 metres (46 ft) between highest and lowest water marks. Popularly nicknamed "St. Michael in peril of

2496-476: Was also a threat to the island and the castle received one 24-pounder and two 9-pounder cannons. The Castle was fitted with a signal mast to alert the island to the approach of any vessel, with a fire beacon to give alarm at night. In 1799, 6,000 Russian troops were quartered at nearby Delancey. Hundreds died of disease and graves of Russian soldiers are located at the Vale Castle. During the Napoleonic Wars

2548-549: Was closed in 1863. In 1872 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

2600-415: Was completely submerged on 21 March 2015 by the highest sea level, a once-in-18-years occurrence, as crowds gathered to snap photos. 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

2652-618: 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. 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

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2704-470: 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. When Louis XI of France founded

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