President Emmanuel Macron has come too early for the island experience. It is not until 5 July that Mont-Saint-Michel will be completely surrounded by the floods again. But that did not dampen the joy of the distinguished visit to Normandy. On Monday, in bright sunshine, the president and his wife Brigitte climbed up the monastery hill to pay tribute to the abbey's millennium.

Michaela Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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Mont-Saint-Michel, which was used as a prison until 1863 after the French Revolution, has become "an icon of France," as Macron put it. He went to see the exhibition "The Empire of the Archangel", a retrospective of the eventful history of the abbey between 1023 and 2023, which will be on display until November. He was accompanied by Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak and Minister of the Environment Christophe Béchu.

The order for the construction of the abbey is said to have been given by the Archangel Michael. According to legend, the archangel appeared three times in a dream to the Norman bishop Aubert of Avranches. Each time he is said to have ordered him to build a chapel on the granite rock in the tidal stream.

After all, it was Benedictine monks who tackled the most complicated construction site of the Middle Ages on the 300-metre-wide granite rock. 160 meters high above the sea, the recently restored gilded Archangel Michael sits enthroned at the top of the church tower, which was built in 1897.

Mont-Saint-Michel is not only known as a tourist destination, but has been an important place of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages. At that time, it was a risky adventure to get to the island. "If you go to Saint-Michel, don't forget to make your will first," said a proverb, "for at high tide the sea comes with such power as a galloping horse."

But for a long time, the flood was only gentle. The monastery island was in danger of silting up because a road embankment and a parking lot stopped the water. After ten years of construction, Mont-Saint-Michel was restored to its original state in 2015. Since then, a stilt bridge made of steel and wood has replaced the dam and partly disappears into the water at high tide.

Declared a World Heritage Site in 1979

The "restoration of the maritime character" has cost France 184 million euros. To this day, the French state spares no expense or effort to protect the landmark, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Extensive renovation and repair work on the monastery complex has just been completed.

President Macron then interpreted Mont-Saint-Michel as proof of France's "resilience" and "consistency" in the face of meteorological challenges and in dealing with its own history. Similar to the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, it is easy to refer to writer Victor Hugo, who in 1884 demanded: "Mont-Saint-Michel is to France what the Great Pyramid is to Egypt. We must save him from mutilation. It must remain an island."

Macron's visit to Mont-Saint-Michel was also dedicated to the Benedictines, who still inhabit the abbey today. The president's aim was to highlight France's Christian heritage, which is often threatened with decay away from tourist magnets such as Mont-Saint-Michel or Notre-Dame. Millions of church buildings are "the pride of our landscapes and villages," the Elysée said. Of the 42,000 Catholic church buildings, however, only 10,000 are listed. In small towns with less than 10,000 inhabitants, the care of the churches should therefore be strengthened. Macron announced the recording of religious cultural treasures and special funding. There is already a state cultural treasure lottery. The proceeds are used to finance the restoration or repair of cultural monuments.