SAINT-MICHEL, MONT. — Ancient abbey in the Manche department (France), situated on a rocky islet forming a granitic hill; since 1879 it has been connected to the mainland by a 2 km causeway.
The mount (78 m high) was originally called Mont-Tombe. In 708, St Audebert, bishop of Avranches, built an oratory on the summit of Mont-Tombe in honour of St Michael; in the 10th century this was replaced by a Carolingian church, upon which the Romanesque basilica was erected in the 11th century. The islet subsequently took the names St-Michel-en-Tombe, St-Michel-en-Mer, St-Michel-au-Péril-de-la-Mer, St-Michel-du-Mont, and finally Mont-St-Michel.
The Norman invasion prompted some refugees to take shelter on the islet around the monastery attached to the church. In 966, Richard I, Duke of Normandy, installed Benedictine monks from Fontenelle (St-Vandrille), as the sanctuary was much frequented by pilgrims. In 1203, part of the monastic buildings was burned by the troops of Philip Augustus, who sought to wrest the islet from the Dukes of Normandy. The monks were compensated, rebuilt the abbey, and began its fortification, completed in 1228 and known as the «Merveille». St Louis visited the sanctuary in 1254. The English vainly attempted to occupy it between 1423 and 1434; in 1469, Louis XI founded the royal chivalric Order of St Michael. However, commendatory abbots were appointed, monastic discipline declined, and in 1622 the Benedictine Congregation of St Maur took over, remaining until its suppression in 1790 by the French Revolution. The monastic buildings were used as prisons until 1874, when they were declared historic monuments; restoration work began thereafter.
The abbey church was returned to worship in 1922; the principal pilgrimage takes place on 29 September, the feast of St Michael. Access to the abbey is through a fortified gate from which a steep staircase called the «du Gouffre» leads to the 13th-century guard room. A second staircase, the abbatial, leads to the abbot’s residence and the abbey church (1022–1135). The nave and transept remain Romanesque; the choir with its ambulatory and five radiating chapels dates from 1450–1521; everything was restored between 1898 and 1914. The high altar, in pink Burgundy granite, was consecrated in 1927. The monks’ dwelling, with its superb three-storey façade, forms the «Merveille»; on the upper floor, beside the refectory, is the cloister with four ambulatories supported by 227 small columns and adorned with various decorations. Remnants of the primitive abbey from the 10th to 12th centuries survive, including the north crypt (11th–12th century), the chapel of St Stephen, the guesthouse, and the so-called western crypt, namely the Carolingian church reinforced and enlarged in the 11th century. Beneath the cloister is the Knights’ Hall, divided into four naves by three rows of columns with foliage capitals. The fortification walls still preserve various towers. In the village, the parish church dates from the 11th century with 16th-century additions; the baptismal font is from the 13th century. — See pl. CII.