First published: 01/04/12.

Thibault Magnien

Mont-Saint-Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel (Inscribed)

Mont-Saint-Michel by Thibault Magnien

The Mont Saint-Michel and its bay have been the first French site to be registered as a WHS in 1979. The great abbey is the main attraction of the Mont. The statue of the angel Saint-Michel is located on the top of the church tower, 170 meters high.

In 709, a sanctuary started being constructed to honor the angel Saint-Michel. In 966, the Benedictine abbey was erected. Then and for centuries, edifices have been set up on the Mont until the current abbey to be completed during the 16th century. It has been a pilgrimmage site and a prison but it has always keep its religious value for people.

The little rock island, situated in the bay, is now linked to the continent by a dyke with a road. However, this dyke is planned to be destroyed and changed into a long bridge to allow sediments and sand to flow without being stopped. These sediments were creating sand mounts risking to change the island into a part of the continent.

The bay surrounding the Mont is the place where the biggest tides in Europe occur and welcomes a great diversity of fauna and flora.

I have visited a lot of sites in my life and the Mont Saint-Michel is for me one of the best ones. This quiet and marvelous place bewitches visitors and makes them fall in love with its beauty.

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