A monastery located off the coast of Normandy in France is officially 1,000 years old. The site attracts more than 1.3 million tourists every year.
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1,000 years ago, a medieval monastery on the island commune of Mont Saint-Michel was built magnificently off the coast of France. It is a spectacular creation and has played an important role in the history of France through the centuries. Today, the abbey is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions outside of Paris.
On June 5, French President Emmanuel Macron shared on his Twitter that: “Over a period of 1,000 years, the building has become a symbol of French universalism.” To mark this historic milestone, the island commune of Mont will host concerts, conferences and a light show called “Millennium Solstice” on June 23. In addition, visitors can also enjoy exhibitions on history and architecture until November.
Located in a bay bordering the seas of Normandy and Brittany, the monastery was built on a land surrounded by quicksand with fortified fortress walls. When the tide comes, Mont Saint-Michel emerges from the water like a beautiful oasis in the open sea. The monastery became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
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Known as the “wonder of the Western world”, Mont Saint-Michel’s history dates back to 709 when the convent was built in honor of Saint Michael, the Archangel. sacred site and continued to develop throughout the 11th-16th centuries.
The monastery became a fortified fortress during the Hundred Years’ War between England and France in the 14th-15th centuries and the 30-year British invasion.
It was during the Belle Époque period before World War I that the abbey gradually became the worldwide tourist attraction we know today. One of the famous landmarks is the inn Mère Poulard, named after its founder the brilliant chef Annette Poulard. This place has been welcoming visitors since 1888.
Mont Saint-Michel has always been popular and has attracted millions of pilgrims throughout history. “This is the largest pilgrimage site in the West, before Santiago de Compostela,” Thomas Velter, executive director of the Mont Saint-Michel National Public Foundation, told CNN.
Today, about 3 million people visit the monastery each year. The most crowded is the weekend. Especially, on the weekend of the Lord’s Ascension in May, this place was packed with tourists from 11am to 3pm. “We sold 10,500 tickets at the monastery. That’s a record number,” Velter told CNN.
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On its 1,000th anniversary, figures show that Mont-Saint-Michel remains a popular tourist attraction. This also poses a number of challenges for the dozens of residents, shops, and natural landscapes at the site.
“I don’t think that’s a good thing for the owners of shops, H๏τels and restaurants because they can’t keep up with the demand. Mont Saint-Michel is about a square kilometer in size and is also a shopping street. When you put more than 5,000 people on the street at a particular time, I don’t think it’s very pleasant,” said Mr. Velter.
In an effort to increase sustainability, buses connecting attractions now run on biofuel instead of diesel. Visitors are encouraged to explore the vast bay area during peak hours from 11am to 3pm and take advantage of the free parking after 4:30pm. Visitors can immerse themselves in the vast nature and take boat tours of the bay. Here are seals, eels, Atlantic salmon and the largest school of dolphins in Europe
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