Situated in the borderlands between Normandy and Brittany, the abbey of Saint-Michel was one of the most legendary construction sites of the Middle Ages. This feat of monastic architecture rises up on three main levels around the Mount’s granite rock. The Romanesque crypts and nave, the Gothic choir and the Merveille staircase form a vast religious and artistic ensemble whose beauty is the measure of the importance it held throughout Christendom. At the foot of the abbey, the village of half-timbered houses is crowded inside a fortified wall, highly unusual in that it is built on sand. Emerging out of the watery bay, the monumental and picturesque Mont-Saint-Michel ranks amongst the most exceptional world heritage sites.