History, Art & Architecture
article | Reading time2 min
Before, during or after your visit, take a look at the maps to find your way around Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey!
Overlooking the vast expanse of the bay, immerse yourself in the history of Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, standing between sky and sea ! Fancy finding out more ? Read the article on the history of this monument !
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This is the fortified entrance to the abbey. It was the place where pilgrims were welcomed. It became the guard room when a garrison was stationed there during the Hundred Years’ War.
Visitors climb the Grand Degré staircase up to the Saut-Gaultier terrace. The path runs between the church on the right and the abbatial quarters on the left, linked by suspended walkways. These quarters, built between the 14th and 16th centuries, were the stately residence of the abbots and now house the monument’s administration and the monastic communities.
DR - Centre des monuments nationaux
The west terrace comprises the original forecourt of the abbey church and the first three bays of the nave, which were destroyed in the 18th century following a fire. The classical façade was rebuilt in 1784. From here, there is a panoramic view of the bay, stretching from the Rock of Cancale to the west, across Brittany, to the cliffs of Normandy to the east. Two granite massifs can also be seen: Mont-Dol to the west inland and the islet of Tombelaine to the north. Offshore, you can make out the Chausey Islands archipelago, from which the granite used to build the abbey was sourced. Finally, the terrace offers a unique view of the neo-Gothic spire of the bell tower, erected in 1897 and topped by a gilded copper statue of Saint Michael.
Begun in 1023,the abbey church was built atop the rock and rests partly on four crypts constructed on the slope. The Romanesque nave features a three-tiered elevation: arcades, galleries and high windows. It has always been covered by a timber roof structure. The Romanesque chancel, which collapsed in 1421, was rebuilt after the Hundred Years’ War in the Flamboyant Gothic style.
The tour continues through the Gothic cloister. These galleries, which allowed movement between different buildings, were also used for prayer and meditation. During religious festivals, processions would take place there. The cloister is situated at the top of a building known as the Merveille, built in the early 13th century. It provides access to the refectory, the kitchen, the church, the dormitory, the charter house and various staircases. To the west, the central bay, opening out onto the sea, was intended to provide access to a chapter house that was never built. The cloister’s galleries were constructed with a timber framework to reduce their weight. A double row of small columns, slightly offset, creates ever-changing perspectives.
In this impressively light-filled room, the monks would take their meals in silence, whilst one of them, from the pulpit on the south wall, would read aloud. Supporting the weight of the roof structure, the side walls of this room feature narrow windows that are invisible from the entrance.
DR - Centre des monuments nationaux
A staircase then leads to the Guests’ Hall, which lies directly beneath the refectory. This magnificent Gothic hall was intended for receiving kings and nobles.
The tour continues with this Gothic crypt, built in the mid-15th century to support the new choir of the abbey church.
This Romanesque crypt was built shortly after the year 1000 to serve as the foundation for the transept arm of the abbey church. It features a vault with an impressive span of nine metres.
From the Saint-Martin Crypt, a small passageway leads to the enormous wheel that stands in the monks’ former ossuary. It was installed in 1818 to hoist food up to the prisoners held in the abbey, which had been converted into a prison. It is a replica of the wheels used in the Middle Ages on building sites.
Saint-Étienne Chapel is situated between the infirmary, which collapsed in the early 19th century, and the monks’ ossuary. It was used for the washing of the dead and the wake prior to the burial of deceased monks.
We then take the north-south staircase, situated below the west terrace. This is the main thoroughfare of the Romanesque monastery.
The staircase leads onto the monks’ promenade. Forming part of the Romanesque monastery, this long, double-nave hall is vaulted with ribbed vaults: this innovation heralds the birth of Gothic art in the mid-12th century.
The ‘Merveille’ can be seen upon entering the scriptorium. Built to support the cloister, this large Gothic hall was intended for the monks’ work of copying and studying manuscripts. Two hundred medieval manuscripts from the abbey are now preserved in Avranches.
DR - Centre des monuments nationaux
We then descend to the almshouse, situated on the first level beneath the Hall of Guests. It was here that the monks welcomed the poor and pilgrims from all walks of life.
The tour concludes in the room that was once the storeroom, which was used to store food hoisted up by a large wheel that has since disappeared. Today, it houses the abbey’s bookshop and gift shop.
