Mont-Saint-Michel

The abbey that becomes an island at high tide

Mont-Saint-Michel is a mountain-island by the sea with a 1,000-year-old abbey on top. Twice a day the sea rises and surrounds the island with water, then retreats and leaves sand all around — the water comes in 'as fast as a galloping horse'! The abbey stands 80 metres up, with a golden Archangel Michael on its spire. Only 30 people live in its tiny streets, but 3 million tourists visit each year.

Mont-Saint-Michel is a granite island off the Normandy coast (1 km around, 92 m high); in 708 Bishop Aubert built a chapel after a vision of the Archangel Michael; a Benedictine abbey followed in 966; in the 11th–16th centuries rose the Gothic abbey 'La Merveille' (the Marvel), a fortress-monastery never captured during the Hundred Years' War. Europe's biggest tides: up to 14 m range, the sea retreats 18 km and returns 'at the speed of a galloping horse' (6 km/h); the quicksand is dangerous. In the 19th century it served as a prison (1791–1863). An 1879 causeway trapped sand and joined the island to the mainland; in 2014 a new bridge and a dam on the Couesnon made it an island again. UNESCO since 1979. A 4.5 m golden archangel tops the spire (1897). Famous for 'Mère Poulard' omelettes (1888). 3 million visitors a year, 30 permanent residents.

Fun facts

• The tide here rises 14 m — the highest in Europe.
• The water comes in 'as fast as a galloping horse' — 6 km/h.
• Only 30 people live on the island, but 3 million tourists visit each year.