Mont St-Michel
Mont St Michel in the Gulf of St-Malo off the coast of Normandy, France. The Benedictine monastery (founded 708 AD) was used as a prison from the time of the French Revolution (1789–1799) until 1863.
Granite islet in the bay of St-Michel, northwest France, situated in the département of Manche near the mouth of the River Couesnon, 24 km/15 mi southeast of Granville. It was converted to a peninsula in 1875 with the construction of a 2 km/1.2 mi long causeway. It has a Benedictine monastery, the abbey being founded in the 10th century in the place of an oratory built in 708.
| The island rises to a height of 73 m/240 ft. The village on the south and east sides of the island is protected by ramparts. The fortress-abbey withstood the English in the Hundred Years' War and the Huguenots in the French Wars of Religion The Order of St-Michel, founded by Louis XI, used to meet in the splendid Knights' Hall. After the French Revolution the abbey was used as a political prison. |
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