- [Narrator] Coastal at one moment,
isolated island at another,
Mont Saint-Michel is incredibly stunning no matter the tide.
In between two powerful tides from Normandy and Brittany
stands the gothic-styled Benedictine Abbey named after
and dedicated to the archangel Saint Michael.
Mont Saint-Michel wasn't always an island.
In prehistoric times, it stood on dry land.
However, as sea levels rose, erosion reshaped the coast.
Even today, it only sits 600 meters from land.
Although it has less than 50 full-time residents,
it is visited by more than three million people each year.
The climb to see the abbey isn't easy.
It's around 900 steps.
More than just a church on a rock,
Mont Saint-Michel is a medieval time capsule
and was one of the first monuments to be classed
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1979.