Photos

Le Mont-St-Michel was used in the 6th and 7th centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-British culture and power, until it was sacked by the Franks; thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in 459 AD.
Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called Mont Tombe. According to legend, the archangel Michael appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction, until Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger.
The mount gained strategic significance in 933 when the Normans annexed the Cotentin Peninsula, thereby placing the mount on the new frontier with Brittany. Ducal and royal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.
The wealth and influence of the abbey extended to many daughter foundations, including St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, England. However, its popularity and prestige as a centre of pilgrimage waned with 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 régime. High-profile political prisoners followed, but by 1836 influential figures, including Victor Hugo, had launched a campaign to restore what was seen as a national architectural treasure. The prison was finally closed in 1863, and the mount was declared a historic monument in 1874. The Mont Saint Michel and its bay were added to the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979.

Le mont Saint-Michel est un îlot rocheux à l'embouchure du Couesnon sur lequel a été construit un sanctuaire en l'honneur de l'archange saint Michel. Son nom ancien est « mont Saint-Michel au péril de la mer » (Mons Sancti Michaeli in periculo mari)
Cet îlot est également le centre naturel, à défaut d'en être le centre géographique, de la commune du Mont-Saint-Michel), rattachée au canton de Pontorson, dans le département français de la Manche.
L'architecture prodigieuse du mont Saint-Michel et sa baie en font le site touristique le plus fréquenté de Normandie et un des premiers de France avec quelque 3 200 000 visiteurs chaque année. Une statue de saint Michel placée au sommet de l'église abbatiale culmine à 170 mètres au-dessus du rivage.
De nombreux immeubles du site sont, à titre individuel, classés au titre des Monuments historiques (l'église paroissiale depuis 1909, par exemple) ou inscrits sur l'inventaire supplémentaire des monuments historiques.
Classé monument historique en 1987, le site figure depuis 1979 sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l'UNESCO.