Mont Saint Michel

Mont-Saint-Michel was used in the sixth and seventh centuries as an Armorican stronghold of Romano-Breton culture and power, until it was ransacked by the Franks, thus ending the trans-channel culture that had stood since the departure of the Romans in AD 460.
Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey, albumen print, ca. 1865-1895

Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called "monte tombe". According to legend, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction, until St. Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger.

The mount gained strategic significance in 933 when William "Long Sword", William I, Duke of Normandy, annexed the Cotentin Peninsula, definitively placing the mount in Normandy. It is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, which commemorates the 1066 Norman conquest of England. Ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel

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Mont-Saint-Michel, Normandy, France
Mont-Saint-Michel, whose famous silhouette is a familiar icon of France, is a rocky islet situated 1 mile off the Normandy coast, best known for its ...
www.discoverfrance.net/France/.../Mont-St-Michel.shtml

Mont Saint-Michel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Le Mont-Saint-Michel (English: Saint Michael's Mount) is a rocky tidal island and a commune in Normandy, France. It is located approximately one kilometre ...
Formation - Tidal island - History - Design
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mont_Saint-Michel

Mont St-Michel, France
Mont St-Michel: History, description, photos and visitor information for Mont St-MichelNormandy, France.
www.sacred-destinations.com/france/mont-st-michel