Mont St. Michel

Mont Saint-Michel (English: Mount Saint Michael) is a small rocky tidal island in Normandy, roughly one kilometre from the north coast of France at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches. An Italian architect, William de Volpiano, was chosen as building contractor for the mount in the 11th century. He designed the Romanesque church of the abbey, daringly placing the transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and chapels had to be built to compensate for this weight; these formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today. Today Mont Saint-Michel is seen as a Gothic-style church.