Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Brittany

80  BRIT T AN Y REGION B Y REGION

Abbaye du Mont-St-Michel

The history of Mont-St-Michel can be read in its
architecture. The abbey, the most prominent building,
has served several different purposes; once attached
to the Benedictine monastery, it later became a prison
for political dissidents. The original abbey church was
built in 1017, on the site of a 10th-century, pre-
Romanesque building, the Notre-Dame-Sous-Terre.
In the early 13th century, La Merveille, an imposing
three-storey building, was added to the north side
of the church, built directly onto the rockface.

. Abbey Church
Monks’ Refectory Only four of the original seven
This large room is bays in the nave survive. The
bathed in soft light other three collapsed in 1776.
entering through
windows in the end
wall and through
high, narrow niches.

Salle des
Chevaliers
The vaulting
and capitals in
the Knight’s Hall
are in a pure
Gothic style.

Upper Level
(Church)

Intermediate
Level
KEY
1 Crypte Notre-Dame-des-
Trente-Cierges (Our Lady of the Lower
Thirty Candles) is one of two crypts Level
beneath the transept.
2 La Merveille This masterpiece
of Gothic architecture took
16 years to complete.
3 Crypte St-Martin, a barrel-
vaulted chapel, gives an idea of the
austere appearance of the original
abbey church. . Cloisters
4 The abbatial buildings, near With slender
the square in front of the church, pudding-stone
allowed the abbot to entertain columns in an off-
important visitors in suitable comfort. set alignment, the
Lesser pilgrims were received at cloister is a perfect
the almshouse. example of Anglo-
Norman Gothic.
For hotels and restaurants see pp224–5 and pp234–5

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