Mont Saint Michel and Chartres is a record not of a literal jouney but of a meditative journey across time and space into the medieval imagination.

Using the architecture, sculpture, and stained glass of the two locales as a starting point, Adams bre. The height of the ceiling and subsequently the height of the windows allows an inordinate amount of light to enter the chapel even on a less than sunny day.Mont Saint Michel and Chartres is a record not of a literal jouney but of a meditative journey across time and space into the medieval imagination.

Construction which is faithful to the original chapel was finished exactly 100 years after the collapse of the original chapel. Being in the middle of the Hundred Years War, the reconstruction was not organized until some 25 years later. The original abbey chapel collapsed in on itself in 1421. Much of what you see of the Abbey is Romanesque in architectural style. After winding their way around to the west side, pilgrims entered an enclosure and climbed to the main level of the Abbey through this barrel vaulted gallery. However, the original entrance was on the west side. Today’s entrance to the Abbey faces east and is a continuation of the village street that winds its way up to the entrance. Like Chartres Cathedral, the design of the Abbey at Mont Saint-Michel welcomed crowds of pilgrims. La Mère Poulard (1888) is one example of these bourgeois houses.įollow the ever climbing path to the Abbey where you soon leave the busy shop filled streets and begin to have views over the tops of the houses. However, during the Belle Epoque, stone bourgeois houses replaced many of these traditional houses. As you wander the streets, which are crowded with tourists during business hours, you will see traditional half-timbered houses. The village winds its way around the mount in a maze of streets and flights of steps until it reaches the Abbey. Wander Through the Village of Mont Saint-Michel Head on over to the beach photos to take an outside tour around the Abbey. If you are lucky enough to spend the night on the island, hotels provide access to a parking area not affected by the tides. Following the cycles of the moon, the tide rises slightly over 3 ½ feet per second when it is coming in. At high tide Mont water surrounds Mont St-Michel and at low tide this same water recedes as much as 11 miles from the Abbey.

Mont st michel and chartres