The Abbey

Constructed from the 10th century, the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel houses architectural treasures in Carolingian, Romanesque, and Gothic styles. It is divided into two main parts: the abbey church, located at the top of the Mont’s rock, and the Marvel (La Merveille), which rises on three levels on the side of the rock. Access to the Abbey is via the “Grand Degré”, a wide staircase of about 350 steps, blocked at mid-height by a swinging door that was once guarded by a watchman. Since 1874, the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel has been entrusted to the service of Historical Monuments.

Since the Middle Ages, pilgrims from all over the world have come to honor Saint Michael at the Abbey. The first Benedictine monks settled on Mont Saint-Michel in 966 and adapted the existing lodgings to create a monastery.

In 1791, the monks were expelled by the Revolution, and they did not return until 1966, for the monastic millennium celebrations. Since 2001, two communities of monks and nuns from the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem have been living permanently in the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel, where they conduct the daily offices.

Tickets can be purchased directly at the entrance of the Abbey.

Rates

During summer evenings, the Abbey is exceptionally set to music and illuminated. This nighttime tour offers a unique and poetic way to experience the Mont. Throughout the tour, which takes visitors to areas usually closed to the public (like the sanctuary of Notre-Dame-sous-Terre), light and mirror displays transform the building.

Night tours are available every evening except Sunday, from 7 pm to midnight during the summer.

Masses are celebrated with the Monastic Fraternities of Jerusalem.