151. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. PLAN AT THE LEVEL OF THE LOWER CHURCH, THE REFECTORY, AND THE CHAPTER-HOUSE, OR KNIGHTS' HALL.
Key to Plan.—A. Lower church. B, B′. Chapels beneath the transepts. C. Substructure of Romanesque nave. C, C′, and C″. Charnel-house or burying-place of the monks, and substructure of south platform. D. Formerly the cistern. E. Formerly the claustral buildings. Refectory. F. Formerly the cloister or ambulatory. G. Passage communicating with the hostelry. H, I. Hostelry and offices (Robert de Thorigni). J. Chapel of hostelry (St. Étienne). K, K′, L, M. Refectory. Tower known as the Tour des Corbins (Tower of Crows). Chapter-house, or hall of the knights, Galilee or narthex (Merveille). N. Hall of the military executive, or hall of the officers. O. Tower known as the Tour Perrine. P. Battlements of the gate-house. Q. Courtyard of the Merveille. R, S. Staircase and terrace of the apse. T. Courtyard of the church. U. Fortified bridge connecting the lower church with the abbey buildings. V, X. Abbot's lodging. Accommodation for guests. Y, Y′. Cisterns of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Z. Body of rock.
The Abbey of Mont St. Michel was founded in 708 by St. Aubert, according to tradition. At the
close of the tenth century it was restored by Richard Sans Peur, third Duke of Normandy, with the help of the Benedictine monks from Monte Casino, whom he had installed at St. Michel in 966. It increased greatly in wealth and extent in the eleventh century, and by the end of the twelfth was in the full tide of its prosperity. Its buildings, however had not yet that importance to which they attained in the following century.[53] In the twelfth century they consisted of the church, which was built between 1020 and 1135[54] and the monastic buildings proper (lieux réguliers), with lodgings for servants and guests to the north of the nave, at G, G´, and F on the plan, [Fig. 152]. To these, which were restored or reconstructed in a great measure by the Abbot Roger II. at the beginning of the twelfth century, additions were made on the south and south-east by Robert de Thorigni from 1154 to 1186.
The monastery was not then fortified.
[53] Description de l'Abbaye du Mont St. Michel, by Ed. Corroyer; Paris, 1877. This work was crowned by the Institute in 1879, at the Concours des Antiquités Nationales.
[54] See L'Architecture Romane, by Ed. Corroyer; Paris, Maison Quantin, 1888.
152. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. PLAN AT THE LEVEL OF THE UPPER CHURCH, THE CLOISTERS, AND THE DORMITORY