Mont Saint Michel, France, World Cultural Heritage with perfect blend of history, culture and natural landscape.
2023-06-19
Located 2 kilometers off coast in Gulf of Saint Malo, Manche, France, there is a small island 88 meters high and about 900 meters in circumference. It is only 76 meters. twice as high as hill, there is a complex of St. Michael's Church, there are no trees and houses, and one mountain is isolated, so it seems that it is much higher than hill. actual height of Mont Saint-Michel is a famous French scenic spot and Catholic pilgrimage site.
A castle hill built in a dream
In 708 AD, Cardinal and Cardinal Aubert from small town of Avranches, because he had three dreams of archangel Saint-Michel, ordered construction of a temple with name of Saint-Michel on highest point of island. more than 60 spring and autumn buildings formed a small church and castle. From 1211 to 1228, 6 buildings were built in northern part of island, centered on Maywell Abbey, and deep moats were built in 13th-15th centuries. city walls and walls of Gothic monastery, etc., until now church of Mont Saint-Michel, monastery and outbuildings have been combined, and they are tightly surrounded by walls with semicircular moon-shaped towers, forming an impenetrable momentum and played a very important role in Hundred Years War between Britain and France. After over 800 years of expansion, it wasn't until 16th century that St. Michael's Abbey was largely completed. This is Romanesque and Gothic castle hill we see today.
According to religious allusions, Saint Michel is an archangel who guards entrance to paradise. At top of tower, a gilded statue of archangel holds a sword and spreads its wings, protecting lands of Normandy.
The dream of Oba that year occupied people for 8 centuries. Mont Saint-Michel is not only one of top ten castles in Europe, second only to Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, but is also a Catholic castle in addition to Vatican. It is also third holy site outside of Jerusalem that great French writer Victor Hugo called "Pyramid of Sea" and said that Mont Saint-Michel was as important to France as Great Pyramid was to Egypt. France", and some praised him as "eighth wonder of world". There is a popular saying in the West: "If you haven't been to Mont Saint-Michel, you haven't been to France."
Though it doesn't have splendor of Palace of Versailles and Louvre, splendor of Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower and bustle of banks of Seine and Champs Elysées, Mont Saint-Michel is revered and worshiped every year. Millions of pilgrims and tourists come to pilgrimage. In 1979 Mount Saint-Michel was included in list of World Heritage UNESCO.
Mont Saint-Michel is not only an example of military architecture, but also a symbol of French national spirit
Mont Saint-Michel is a medieval architectural complex of rock castles, monasteries and house walls that combines ingenuity of nature with wisdom and perseverance of people. The design of Mont Saint-Michel building is entirely based on relief of mountain. It is built in three layers around a huge rock. It contains not only a majestic church, but also an indulgent fortress and city wall. What is most striking is that spire of church pierces blue sky, showing some kind of indomitable, awe-inspiring dynamics.
Mont-Saint-Michel is not only a place of religious pilgrimage, but also a powerful fortress against aggression. Food and ammunition supplies stubbornly blocked British army for two years, and tide of Atlantic Ocean came to rescue beaches leading to land, making every attack of British army in vain, and winning a precious half-day of rest for guarding patriots. Although British army occupied Normandy and many cities in France at time, they failed in end to capture abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. During this protracted war, Mont Saint-Michel became only military fortress in region that did not fall.
More than 500 years after end of Hundred Years' War between Britain and France, another World War II that sealed fate of mankind once again made people feel angelic way of upholding justice and not being afraid of danger at Mont Saint. - Michelle Abby. In June 1944, Allied troops were about to land in Normandy, but when they learned that German troops stationed in Normandy were planning to blow up Abbey of Saint-Michel, monks organized a detachment of guards and stood guard at Mont Saint-Michel. Michel day and night. It was said that risking their lives, German army's plot would not succeed. In heroic and staunch resistance, monks eventually withstood until end of World War II. Mont Saint-Michel is not only an example of military architecture, but also a symbol of French national spirit.
The vicissitudes and simplicity of St. Michael's Cathedral
Compared to splendor of Vatican and Church of Jerusalem, St. Michael's Monastery is very simple. With exception of exquisite stone pillars and domes, there are few decorative glass windows, etc. The original purpose of religion is to keep people away from world. Forgetting everything, focusing on improvement and self-improvement, in ancient and simple St. Michael's Cathedral, one can better understand the true meaning of return to nature.
Climb steps to enter castle, following blue stone road carved over years by Mont Saint-Michel. On both sides are mainly shops, restaurants and small hotels. Almost every store sells a variety of postcards from Saint-Michel from Hill Hill. . When you see majestic church of Saint-Michel and monastery complex, you will find yourself in central part of Mont-Saint-Michel. Combining Roman and Gothic architectural styles, cruciform St. Michael's Cathedral is divided into three parts: altar, transept and main hall. The facade of church is a large porch with three arches, from where you can see sea from platform in front of door.
What is impressive is cloister of church, a masterpiece of medieval architectural art. Its columns appear slender and small, but they actually support a large slate roof. The colonnades are arranged neatly, and plum-shaped capitals are bases of diagonal vaults, forming an arcade over forest of columns.
Mont Saint-Michel reconstruction and waiting project
Since 1874, French government has invested heavily in a 100-year-old massive restoration project for Château de Mont Saint-Michel. As part of this project, a 4 km dam was built connecting lands on opposite bank, which is very convenient for people who come to island for pilgrimage and sightseeing. But what I did not expect at beginning was that dam also violated natural law of sea water fluctuations and did not allow sand and silt to be carried away when sea water was low. The phenomenon continued to intensify, terrain around mountain gradually became higher and gradually turned into land, and became meadow for cattle and sheep grazing. Mont Saint Michel, surrounded by sea water, has become a rare sight, maybe it won't take long, Saint Michel Hill will completely lose its charm of a small island in sea and become a majestic monastery standing on plain.
The problem is becoming more and more serious and urgent, and project to restore style of island of Mont Saint-Michel has become a hot topic among French and government. After much debate, on June 16, 2006, then Prime Minister of France officially launched a project to renovate picturesque site of Mont Saint-Michel. The French government has decided to spend more than 200 million euros on a radical transformation of rivers, dams and roads around Mont Saint-Michel in order to restore original ecological environment, to reproduce grandeur and beauty of past.
The above two network diagrams