Mont Saint Michel Abbey
| Mont Saint Michel Abbey | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Basic information | |
| Geographic coordinates | 48°38′09″N 1°30′41″W / 48.635834°N 1.511389°WCoordinates: 48°38′09″N 1°30′41″W / 48.635834°N 1.511389°W |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Municipality | Le Mont-Saint-Michel |
| Region | Lower Normandy |
| Heritage designation |
Monument historique, 1862 World heritage site, 1979 |
| Leadership | Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Groundbreaking | 10th century |
| Completed | 1523 |
The Mont Saint Michel Abbey is located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Lower Normandy, in the department of Manche.
The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the town the feudal society constructed. On top, God, the abbey, and monastery; below this, the Great halls, then stores and housing, and at the bottom (outside the walls), fishermen's and farmers' housing.
The abbey has been protected as a French monument historique since 1862. Since 1979, the site as a whole – i.e., the Mont Saint-Michel and its bay – has been a UNESCO world heritage site and is managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux.
With more than 1.335 million visitors in 2010, the abbey is among the most visited cultural sites in France.
The first text about an abbey is the 9th-century Latin text Revelatio ecclesiae sancti Michaelis in monte Tumba written by a chanoine living at Mont Saint Michel or at the Cathédrale Saint-André d'Avranches. This text was written at a time of power struggle between Brittany and the County of Normandy against Francia as well as during canon law reforms by Roman emperors.
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