Castle of the Week 52 - Mont St Michel
While Mont St Michel is not, strictly speaking, a
castle, it is surrounded by fortifications and is a great
monument to medieval building. It is built on a small (1km
diameter) rocky island in a vast sandy bay between Brittany and
is connected to the mainland by a 1km causeway which is covered
at high tide. The traffic-free road winds its way up past small
houses and shops to the 13th century monastic buildings and the
Benedictine abbey at the summit, 80m above sea level.
Legend says that Aubert, Bishop of Avranches,
had a dream when the Archangel Michael appeared to him and told
him to build a church on top of the rock. The Bishop founded the
first chapel, holding about 100, on the site in 708 and gave it
St Michael’s name. Further buildings were put up in the
next few years and it was inhabited by a small community of
canons.
The buildings fell into disrepair after a severe
fire in 922 and had been too small even before the fire, so in
966 Richard, Duke of Normandy, established an order of
Benedictine monks there who started to reconstruct the church.
They brought in craftsmen from Italy and started work in 1017.
The abbey was finished in 1080 and pilgrims flocked to the island
to worship St Michael.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Normandy
was annexed to France. During the battles preceding this, part of
the abbey burnt down and when peace returned, the King of France
agreed to provide funds to help gain favour by building an even
more magnificent abbey. Work began in 1204 and was finished in
1221. Much of this building is what can still be seen today.
When the first chapel was built, instead of
flattening the pointed top of the rock, the Bishop had built up
masonry round the peak. Unfortunately this was not strong enough
to bear the later granite buildings and in 1300 one of the towers
collapsed, followed by the nave in 1421.
Fortified walls and watchtowers were added in
1420 during the Hundred Years War when it acted as a fortress to
protect the Normans from the invading English. Despite many
attacks, it was never taken. The reconstruction of the collapsed
areas didn’t start until after the war in 1450 and finished
in 1521.
The King recognised its usefulness as a prison
and it was first used for political prisoners in 1472 but the
monks remained until the Revolution of 1789 when it was
dissolved. It continued to be used as a prison holding many of
France’s most famous citizens at various times.
There was a bad fire in 1856 and restoration
took place in 1874 when Napoleon III declared it a national
monument and the French government assumed responsibility for the
repairs and upkeep. The causeway was built in 1879. Prior to
that, the only access was across the sands at low tide which was
dangerous as the sea sweeps in with very little warning.
Church services were revived in the 1920s and a
very small community of Benedictine monks returned in 1969. Today
there are only a handful left. It was listed by UNESCO as a World
Heritage site in 1979 and is a very popular tourist attraction,
the crowded streets making it hard to imagine what life was like
there in medieval times.
Write-up provided by GillB*. Pictures courtesy of GillB*, Jayhawk* and Castles of the World.