Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
Mont-Saint-Michel English: Saint Michael's Mount) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France.
The island[4] lies approximately one kilometer (one-half nautical mile) off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches, and is 7 hectares (17 acres) in area. The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares (971 acres) in area so the total surface of the commune is 400 hectares (990 acres). As of 2019, the island had a population of 29.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
The island[4] lies approximately one kilometer (one-half nautical mile) off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches, and is 7 hectares (17 acres) in area. The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares (971 acres) in area so the total surface of the commune is 400 hectares (990 acres). As of 2019, the island had a population of 29.
Thanks to Google Earth Studio for this amazing aerial view.
Transcript
00:00Mont Saint-Michel is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France.
00:14The island lies approximately 1 km off France's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Cousnon
00:19River near Avranches and is 7 hectares in area.
00:23The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares in area so the total surface of the commune
00:28is 400 hectares.
00:30As of 2019, the island had a population of 29.
00:34The commune's position on an island just a few hundred meters from land made it accessible
00:38at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey.
00:42And defensible as the incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would be assailants.
00:47The island remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War.
00:50A small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433.
00:548.
00:55Louis XI recognized the benefits of its natural defense and turned it into a prison.
01:00The abbey was used regularly as a prison during the ancient regime.
01:04Mont Saint-Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World
01:08Heritage Sites in 1979 for their unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site.
01:14It is visited by more than 3 million people each year.
01:17Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as historical monuments.
01:22In 2023, President Macron marked 1,000 years of the abbey and the success of the hydraulic
01:27dam project and the elevated pedestrian bridge in restoring water flow in the bay, making
01:32the mound an island again.
01:34Geography formation Now a rocky tidal island, the mound occupied
01:37dry land in prehistoric times.
01:40As sea levels rose, erosion reshaped the coastal landscape, and several outcrops of granite
01:45emerged in the bay, having resisted the wear and tear of the ocean better than the surrounding
01:50rocks.
01:51These included Lillemer, Mont-Dal, Tamboulaine, the island just to the north, and Mont Tambay,
01:56later called Mont Saint-Michel.
01:59Mont Saint-Michel consists of leucogranite which solidified from an underground intrusion
02:03of molten magma about 525 million years ago, during the Cambrian period.
02:09As one of the younger parts of the Manchellian granitic batholith, early studies of Mont
02:13Saint-Michel by French geologists sometimes describe the leucogranite of Mont as granulite.
02:19But this granitic meaning of granulite is now obsolete.
02:22The mound has a circumference of about 960 meters and its highest point is 92 meters
02:26above sea level.
02:28Tides The tides vary greatly, at roughly 14 meters
02:31between the highest and lowest water marks, popularly nicknamed, Saint Michael in peril
02:36of the sea, by medieval pilgrims making their way across the flats.
02:40The mound can still pose dangers for visitors who avoid the causeway and attempt the hazardous
02:45walk across the sands from the neighboring coast.
02:48The Mont Saint-Michel in 2014 With the new bridge the connection between
02:51Mont Saint-Michel and the mainland has changed over the centuries.
02:55Previously connected by a tidal causeway and covered only at low tide, this was converted
03:00into a raised causeway in 1879, preventing the tide from scouring the silt around the
03:05mound.
03:06The coastal flats have been polarized to create pastureland, decreasing the distance between
03:10the shore and the island, and the Cousnon river has been canalized, reducing the dispersion
03:15of the flow of water.
03:17These factors have all encouraged silting up of the bay.
03:20In July 2014, the new bridge, by architect Dietmar Feichtinger, was opened to the public.
03:26The light bridge allows water to flow freely around the island and improves the efficiency
03:30of the now operational dam.
03:32The bridge, which cost 209 million euros, was opened by President François Hollande.
03:38That is all.
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