Mont St. Michel
By Raina Nelson
History
In the 11th century, William de Volpiano, the Italian architect who had built the Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy, was chosen by Richard II of Normandy to be the building contractor. He designed the Romanesque church of the abbey, daringly placing the transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight; these formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today. Today Mont Saint-Michel is seen as a building of Romanesque architecture.
The island
Mont Saint-Michel has also been the subject of traditional, but nowadays good-humoured, rivalry between Normans and Bretons. Bretons claim that since the Couesnon River marks the traditional boundary between Normandy and Brittany, it is only because the river has altered its course over the centuries that the mount is on the Norman side of the border. This legend amuses the area's inhabitants, who state that the border is not located on the Couesnon River itself but on the mainland, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the west, at the foot of the solid mass of Saint-Brelade.
Inside
Mont st michel
Romanesque Abbey church
Location
Cited work
Work cited
"Sacred Destinations." Mont St-Michel. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/mont-st-michel>.
"Home." Home. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.msmcatholic.org/>.
"Home." Site Officiel De Loffice De Tourisme Du Mont Saint Michel. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/index.htm?lang=en>.
"Castles.org." Castles.org. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://castles.org/>.
"History of Mount Saint Joseph." Mount Saint Joseph High School: History. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://www.msjnet.edu/page.cfm?p=845>.
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