information:extraction, structural:expansion
Mont-Saint-Michel is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately one kilometre off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 7 hectares in area. The mainland part of the commune is 393 hectares in area so that the total surface of the commune is 400 hectares. As of 2019, the island had a population of 29. The commune's position—on an island just a few hundred metres (yards) from land—made it accessible at low tide to the many pilgrims to its abbey, and defensible as the incoming tide stranded, drove off, or drowned would-be assailants. The island remained unconquered during the Hundred Years' War. A small garrison fended off a full attack by the English in 1433. Louis XI recognised the benefits of its natural defence and turned it into a prison. The abbey was used regularly as a prison during the Ancien Régime. Mont-Saint-Michel and its surrounding bay were inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 for its unique aesthetic and importance as a Catholic site. It is visited by more than three million people each year, and is the most-visited tourist attraction outside of Paris. Over 60 buildings within the commune are protected in France as historical monuments. In 2023, President Macron marked 1,000 years of the abbey, and the success of the hydraulic dam project and the elevated pedestrian bridge in restoring water flow in the bay, making the mount an island again.