Mont Saint Michel Abbey

The abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, founded in the 8th century, is a former Benedictine abbey located on the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Mont Saint-Michel. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in France, one of its most recognizable cultural monuments.

About this building

The legend says that the construction of the abbey began in 708, after the bishop of Avranches witnessed the Archangel Saint-Michel who instructed him to construct a building in his honour. In 966 the duke of Normandy Richard I installed Benedictine monks on the mount and shortly before the year 1000, a pre-Romanesque church - Notre-Dame Under Earth - was built.

At the beginning of the 12th century, King Philippe Auguste of France annexed Normandy, destroying the Mont Saint Michel abbey in the process. To redeem himself, Philippe Auguste financed the construction of the Merveille: two buildings of three floors, including a cloister - completed in 1228 - and a refectory. In 1421, the Romanesque choir of the church collapsed. It was replaced at the end of the Middle Ages with a flamboyant Gothic choir.

The last Benedictines left the Mont in 1791, driven out by the Revolution which declared the abbey "national property". The Mont Saint Michel abbey served as a prison until 1863. This stage left the abbey in a deeply dilapidated state especially following several fires in the abbey church in 1776 and 1834.

The slow rebirth of the abbey began in 1874 when it was listed as a Historic Monument. Major restoration works were carried out at the end of the 19th century and a road-break built in 1879 connected the continent to the Mont, facilitating visitor access.

The abbey regained its religious use in 1969. Since 2001, the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem are the custodians of the abbey.

Key Features

  • Architecture
  • Monuments
  • Interior features
  • Wildlife
  • Links to national heritage
  • Famous people or stories

Visitors information

  • Steps to enter the building or churchyard
  • Café within 500m
  • Building shop or souvenirs

Other nearby buildings

Ch Prunier

Church of Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix

Built in the 11th century on the initiative of William the Conqueror by the same builders as the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, the church of Notre-Dame is of Romanesque style and Gothic transition. A stained-glass window in the choir indicates its raison d'être: the happy passage of the Couesnon by the men of William the Conqueror, in danger of getting bogged down.

Joel Petit

Church of Notre-Dame-des-Champs

Notre-Dame-des-Champs Church was built in the 17th century and located outside the city. With its imposing structure and neo-gothic style, it is a tourist attraction in the town of Avranches.

C Guibout

Saint-Gervais Basilica

The basilica of Saint-Gervais, a church located in the centre of Avranches, is known to house the skull of the bishop of the commune in the 8th century. The religious parable on the relics contributes to the church's appeal to visitors passing through the commune. Enter the fascinating basilica to admire the treasures it contains: works of art and religious objects dating back several centuries. It is a neoclassical-style building with an eye-catching facade that is reminiscent of antiquity.