Mont Saint-Michel: citadel rising over the Atlantic in France turns 1,000 years old

Exactly 1,000 years ago this month, construction began on a magnificent island off the coast of France which, rising improbably from the choppy waters of the Atlantic Ocean, would become an enduring symbol of national strength.

The medieval abbey at the top of the Mont Saint-Michel , a cascade of walls and buttresses descending from a soaring central tower, was a spectacular creation that played crucial roles in French history over the centuries. Today, having completed a millennium since the beginning of the works, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the country outside of Paris – sometimes dominated by its own popularity to the point that its guardians recommend people stay away.

The abbey, which is on the coast of the French region of Normandy , west of Paris, has attracted legions of pilgrims over the centuries. Today, it attracts 1.3 million tourists a year.

“In the space of 1,000 years, its silhouette has become an emblem of French universalism,” wrote French President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter on June 5 after an official visit to the site.

“The abbey, the symbol of what we are: a people of builders”, he wrote.

To commemorate the abbey’s anniversary, Monte is hosting concerts, conferences and a visual show called “Millennium Solstice” on June 23, which will feature an unprecedented light show.

Visitors can also enjoy an exhibition about its history and architecture until November 2023.

A testament to history

Rising from a bay flanked by the regions of Normandy and Brittany, surrounded by quicksand, the Gothic abbey of Mont Saint-Michel towers over its villa and thick fortress walls. When the tide comes in, Monte emerges from the water like a French Atlantis, an architectural marvel set in a beautiful natural landscape.

It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. A “marriage of human genius and nature,” commented President Macron in a speech celebrating the abbey’s millennium.

Dubbed the “wonder of the western world”, the history of Monte dates back to the year 709, when a sanctuary in honor of São Miguel Archangel was erected on the rock. It became a sacred site that continued to evolve from the 11th to the 16th century.

The abbey has witnessed important moments in French history, becoming a stronghold during the Hundred Years’ War of the 14th and 15th centuries and surviving a 30-year siege by the British. It became a prison during the French Revolution of the 18th century.

In 1863, 14,000 prisoners had spent time on the “Bastille of the Seas”, where the tides and quicksand made escape impossible. The prisoners’ families replaced the pilgrims who once walked the village streets.

It was during the Belle Époque before World War I that the monument gradually became the worldwide tourist attraction we know today. One of its popular landmarks is the famous Mère Poulard inn, named after its founder, the brilliant cook Annette Poulard, which has welcomed visitors since 1888.

In 1944, author Ernest Hemingway, then a war correspondent, allegedly sat across a table in La Mère de Poulard to describe the exploits of the D-Day landings, including one of the decisive battles for the liberation of France and Europe that it took place a few kilometers from Mont Saint-Michel, near the completely destroyed town of Avranches.

Concerns about overcrowding

Mont Saint-Michel has always been extremely popular, attracting millions of pilgrims throughout its history.

“It was the greatest pilgrimage site in the West, centuries ago, ahead of Santiago de Compostela,” he told the CNN Thomas Velter, managing director of the Mont Saint-Michel National Public Establishment.

Currently, around 3 million people visit the site every year, with some weekends being busier than usual. The Ascension of Our Lady weekend in May saw the site thronged with visitors between 11am and 3pm – a number that alarmed authorities usually expect only in the height of summer.

“We sold 10,500 tickets at the abbey, which is a record,” Velter told CNN .

“Ascension weekend is usually quite busy, but in this case it was a lot of people at once.”

In total, there were about 33,000 people in the place, which is not a record in itself, but it is still a lot for Monte, which usually expects this number of tourists in August, the high season.

“It is mainly the visitor who suffers because the visit to Monte is less comfortable”, said Velter.

“Since Covid, tourists have tolerated less crowded days like this one because they could taste the joy of visiting places with hardly any visitors.”

With the millennium celebrations underway, initial figures for 2023 suggest that Mont Saint-Michel will remain a very popular tourist attraction, which poses some problems for its twelve inhabitants, shops and natural landscape.

“I don’t think it’s good for shopkeepers, hoteliers and restaurants because they just can’t keep up with customer demand. Mont Saint-Michel is one square kilometer in circumference and has a shopping street. When you put more than 5,000 people at a specific time on the street, I don’t think it’s very pleasant,” Velter said.

In efforts to increase sustainability, buses connecting the site now run on biofuels instead of diesel. Meanwhile, visitors are encouraged to explore the wider bay area during peak hours of 11:00am to 3:00pm and take advantage of free parking from 6:30pm.

“Enjoy nature and the boat trips we organize, for example. There are seals, eels and Atlantic salmon here,” said Velter.

“What we often forget is that there is the biggest colony of dolphins in Europe, so it’s also a chance to discover Mont Saint-Michel in a different way.”