It was 10 years ago: Mont Saint-Michel became an island again
Looking back on major projects
What a story!
The Mont waited 136 years to become an island again, from 1879 to 2015. Indeed, with the rise of tourism, a seawall was built to transport them. Even before that, the prison had been closed and the building restored to accommodate the public. Between 1901 and 1938, a steam tramway even connected the town of Pontorson to Mont Saint-Michel!
Except that this unsinkable dike-road had greatly accelerated the silting up around the rocky islet and the colonization by plants; the foot of the ramparts, for example, had disappeared under more than two meters of sediment. Moreover, it had erased a thousand-year-old tradition, that of pilgrimages at the risk of the sea and shifting sands, which attracted visitors from all over the world. Voices quickly rose to call for ensuring the site's insularity.
20 years of projects and works
The first projects stalled. The project really got underway in 1995, thanks to a visit by Prime Minister Édouard Balladur: the French government was at the helm of these major projects, in partnership with local authorities.
The project began with the replacement of the barracks dam with a new structure, the Couesnon dam. After twenty-six months of construction, it was officially inaugurated in 2009.
From 2010 to 2014, a large parking lot was created, 2.5 km from the rock, and a footbridge and an esplanade replaced the dike. Indeed, parking cars at the foot of the Mount had an environmental impact and the dike-road made it impossible for the Mount to be surrounded by water, a magical experience that we now have the chance to observe. Shuttles were therefore set up, and they run regularly today. Like the pilgrims of yesteryear, tourists can also walk and see the Wonder approaching, step by step.
The tide of the century in 2015
2015 marked the end of this epic, with the destruction of the historic road dike and "the tide of the century" where Mont-Saint-Michel became an island again. On that day, the tidal coefficient reached 119, and 30,000 people gathered to observe it: a first for the 21st century... but one that will happen again, as this phenomenon occurs every 18 years. The next tide of the century will therefore take place in 2033.
The official inauguration took place in October 2015, and President François Hollande visited the site to witness its undeniable environmental success.
Now, the mountain regains its island character several times a year. To find out the exact dates for 2025 and book your stay, visit our dedicated article!