GLOBAL TREASURES: France (Mont Saint Michel)
Global Treasures: Mont Saint Michel
Television Director: Ullman, Frank
Producer: Scarson, Peter O.
Catalogue Number: GTR-DVD-1112
UPC: 879061007118
Global Treasures - History's Most Protected Monuments - Heritage is our legacy from the past, what we live today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration. Places as unique and diverse as the wilds of East Africa's Serengeti, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and the Baroque cathedrals of Latin America make up our world's heritage. Join us as we explore one of these protected monuments.
An 80-metre-high mound of granite in Normandy, Mont Saint-Michel, with its historic buildings, is like something from a fairytale. Powerful fortifications surround both the small town and the abbey at the top of the rock, remnants of Mont Saint-Michel's dramatic past.
The three-storey monastery in the northern section, La Merveille, is one of the finest examples of French Late Gothic design. In the middle of the 10th century, Benedictine monks from Saint Wandrille took over this mountain pilgrimage that soon developed into an important religious destination.
During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, the monastery increasingly grew to resemble a fortress, and the historic development of the town is exhibited in numerous museums.
The repairs, extensions and decoration of the Benedictine took several hundred years, thus creating a unique monument to the history of French construction that united various talented artists and architects of various epochs.
