Mont Saint Michel Pictures - A Virtual Tour of Mont Saint Michel

Mont St. Michel is an imposing granite rock set in a tidal bay in Normandy, wrapped with a medieval city and topped with an abbey. The "island" is now attached to the mainland by a causeway.

The history of Mont Saint Michel begins in 708, when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, built a sactuary in honor of the Archangel Michel on the mount. By the tenth century, it had become a major pilgrimage destination. In the 14th century the Abbey was extended as far as it could go. It was used as a prison at the time of the French revolution until 1863.

Mount St. Michel has been listed as a world heritage site since 1979. Restoration work has the abbey in good shape--although without furniture and wall hangings, it appears quite sterile to the traveller's eye.

Many of these pictures show the Village of Mont St. Michel backed by the bay at low tide. A project is underway to remove the modern causeway and the silt to return the Mont to its position away from the mainland.