“A masterpiece of nature, standing between the earth and the sky, between the continent and the ocean, where the tides change as rapidly as a galloping horse.” This is how Victor Hugo described these remarkable remains of ancient architecture.
Mont Saint-Michel is a small town located on a rocky island 1 km off the northern coast of France, at the end of the Couesnon River in the Lower Normandy region.
Construction began in the distant 709s. In 1874, Mont Saint-Michel was declared a historical monument and is under UNESCO protection ever since.
You can’t live here, since there are only 41 inhabitants and most of them are priests, but you are more than welcome to visit this fairytale-like place.
The story behind Mont Saint-Michel is linked to a legend that says that Saint Michael appeared to the bishop Albert and told him to build a monastery out of rock, but Albert ignored this request until Saint Michael got angry and burned his head with his finger. So, of course, Albert finally decided to listen to the Saint and built what we know today as a tiny, charming, French village in the middle of the sea.