Mont Saint Michel Island - France

The French Science, Education and Cultural Organization recognized Mont Saint Michel Island in France as a World Cultural Heritage in 1979.

Mont Saint Michel Island - World Cultural Heritage in France

Mont Saint Michel Island is an island with a combination of architectural works combined with natural and extremely secretive. This is also the smallest island in France, also known as rock island.

Mont Saint Michel Island is located in the Normandy region of France, more than 350 km from Paris, and only 1 km from the southwestern coast of the country. Because the area is very small, the inhabitants of the island have less than 50 people but every year visitors visit here for up to 3 million times. That number has partly been said to be a great attraction from this tiny island.

In the 8th century AD, it used to be an important fortress of France and also the main church of Saint Michel . For that reason, the new island is placed on Saint Michel. In ancient times, this land was located in the mainland, over millions of years, the erosion of seawater cut the land and stone into this unique island.

As expected, one of France's top three attractions, along with the Eiffel Tower and Versailles castle. Mont Saint Michel Island is always mysterious and attractive especially for visitors and tourists. On the island there is a Benedictine monastery, the top of this monastery has a pointed tower pointed straight up into the sky. The grandeur and mysterious appearance like a monastery castle of fairytale made Hollywood filmmakers choose this place to film the Lord of the Rings movie.

At night, the island of Mont Saint Michel has an enchanting look. This makes Mont Saint Michel island more and more famous, attracting not only visitors but also Hollywood filmmakers

The mystery of the island and the monastery here exists right in its history. It is said that in the past, the bishop of Aubert d'Avranches had slept in his sleep three times, having received orders from Saint Saint-Michel to build a monastery on the island. In 708, Saint Aubert d'Avranches made this intention and two years later, in 710, the work was completed. The former name of the island, Mont-Tombe , was also renamed as Mont-Saint-Michel from there.

The summit of Mont Saint Michel monastery with a sharp tip also contributed to the mysterious appearance of this architectural work

Before being shaped like today, Mont-Saint-Michel has experienced many ups and downs of history. After a big fire in 922 burned all the first religious works including the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel. In 966, the Duke of Normandie Richard I built a Benedict monastery on the island. Reinforced and built more parts, but in 1203, Mont-Saint-Michel monastery was burned again. The French King, Phillip Augustus, spent a large sum of money to rebuild the church. In 1228, a new monastery was rebuilt in the Gothich style with the basic architecture still retained to this day.

Before being able to carry out the tide, it was possible to go to the island, but in 1879, the government built a northern bridge connecting the island to the mainland.

There is another feature that makes the island of Mont-Saint-Michel unlike any other island in the world, that is, it always changes according to the tide change . There are few places in the world, the tide changes quickly and strongly like here. One year, there are about 53 days of tidal water to the peak, and the tide of the tide takes place very quickly in just a few hours. It was the change of the tide that made Mont-Saint-Michel at that time like a terrestrial fortress, sometimes like a mysterious castle in the ocean. Perhaps also for this reason that Mont-Saint-Michel was once considered a fortress in the war between Britain and France. After that war, there was time, Mont-Saint-Michel became a prison for more than 100 years, from the end of the Renaissance to the French Revolution. When the French revolution took place, Mont-Saint-Michel became a real prison. Many rooms in this monastery were converted into factories with hundreds of hard labor. Currently, Mont-Saint-Michel still maintains vertical flow systems used to transport prisoners. The prisoners stood inside the big wheel and used the power to spin the wheel, transporting prisoners from above the foot of the hill. Under the pressure of many writers, including Victor Hugo, Flaubert . Mont-Saint-Michel prison was abolished in 1863.

Viewed from the outside, the island is essentially just an architecture with a large castle and a few small buildings around. The entire architecture on the island is Gothic style and most are built of stone , giving the island's architecture a homogeneous appearance.

Previously the island was connected to the mainland by a natural land bridge, only the tidal area withdrew, this bridge appeared and normally wanted to go to the island by boat. However, as the number of visitors to the island increased, in 1879 the government built a dyke connecting the island to the mainland. Until now, after many centuries, this island has not reduced its attraction but is more and more popular all over the world. Nearly 50 people living on the island today live by providing services and tourism services. Restaurant services as well as other tourist services on the island are strictly managed because the number of tourists is too great and has become a threat to this heritage. Besides, because it is an island, whenever the sea level rises and waves strike, it affects much to the architecture of the buildings here.

In 2009, Unesco placed this cultural heritage on the list of protected assets . Thus, a dam was built over the river toward the island to prevent sea level rise from flooding in this small island.

Local authorities are planning to build a tram project for tourists visiting the island to reduce pollution to the environment as well as the general landscape of Mont-Saint-Michel.