Its silhouette seems to emerge from a fairy tale. A mirage of stone, stuck in the sands at low tide, a fortress floating in the sky when the water around it turns into a mirror… its geometry borrows both from the modest grace of Buddhist stupas and from the solemn simplicity mausoleums. For more than a thousand years, Mont-Saint-Michel has been hiding behind this aura of mystery.
When, in 708, the bishop of Avranches decided to set up a sanctuary there dedicated to the archangel who haunts his dreams, the rock that stands in the bay of Couesnon swings into another dimension. Relics of Saint Michael are brought from Mount Gargan, Italy, where he is said to have appeared to a peasant in the 5th century. The first pilgrims arrive.
When the Benedictines founded a monastery on the spot in 966, the place gained even more prestige. Their abbey, where the faithful converge, is indeed doubled as a scriptorium where some of the most beautiful books of the West are produced. This double dimension of religious epicenter, where a figure common to the three monotheisms is venerated, and of an intellectual center with European influence… will make the legend of the Mount.
From the labyrinths that hide in its bowels to the jewels of the exhibition organized to celebrate the millennium of its abbey, from the precious works of its library, kept in the scriptorial of Avranches, to the surprises revealed by the archaeological excavations that have been carried out there since twenty years, our special issue will have you exploring the site in a thousand and one ways.
The opportunity to discover the monastic communities that have succeeded there. But also to climb to the top of the spire that dominates its bell tower in the company of Jean-Christophe Rufin and Sylvain Tesson. Discover the wonders that make Mont-Saint-Michel a tourist hotspot, whose magic touches far beyond the Catholic community.
Consult our files: The secrets of Mont-Saint-Michel and The secrets of ancient Egypt
Consult our file: The secrets of Mont Saint-Michel
