On the wide expanse of France's northern coast, a vast gothic and Romanesque basilica rises above a rocky island, its dark steeple piercing the summer sky.
In the foreground, sheep graze stubbornly on salty marshes, edged by dancing poppies and windswept heather. In the distance, the shimmering tides of the English Channel run out toward the cliffs of Normandy, and beyond to England and Ireland.
When a monastic sanctuary was installed here by St. Aubert, bishop of Avranches, in A.D. 708, it quickly became a focus for pilgrims, growing in popularity when Benedictine monks arrived and a village grew up below its walls. In later centuries, Mont-Saint-Michel served as a fortress and prison, symbolizing the national faith, as well as fortitude and resilience.
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