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Le Mont Saint Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel is a rocky island about 1 kilometre in circumference, rising 80 metres above the bay, in the Channel. The statue of Saint Michael at the top of the abbey stands at 157.10 metres above sea level. The bay has the biggest tides in continental Europe, with a tidal range that can reach fifteen metres.
The village had only 23 permanent inhabitants in 2023, but it is one of the most visited sites in France: about 2.5 million people come every year, up to 20,000 a day in summer, making it the leading destination outside the Île-de-France. About fifty businesses live off this traffic. The railway link to Pontorson dates from 1901, and a new footbridge designed by the architect Dietmar Feichtinger was opened on 22 July 2014 to link the Mont to the mainland.
The abbey has been a listed historic monument since 1862, and Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay have been UNESCO World Heritage since 1979. The site is also a stage on the Compostela routes. The visit is made on foot, along the village lanes, the ramparts and the climb to the abbey.
