Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 September 1894 — MONT ST. MICHEL. [ARTICLE]

MONT ST. MICHEL.

For Ages It Has Been the Site of Some Religious Building. Edward H. Elwell, Jr., writing of the experiences of a party of American bicyclers at Mont St. Michel, off the coast of France, for St. Nicholas, says: The Mont St. Michel is nearly two miles from the mouth of the river. It is but fifteen minutes’ walk around the rocky beach at its base. Its height is over 350 feet. Its sides are nearly as steep as the sides of a house. , For ages it has been the site of some religious building. The Romans found a heathen temple there, and replaced it by an altar to their own Jupiter. The coming of Christianity saw the beginning of the present wonderful structures, the grbwth of'centuries. The top of the rock is just large enough for the beautiful Gothic cathedral that covers it. In size, detail and carving it equals . many of the most famous cathedrals of Europe. Above part of the building there is a promenade that is 450 feet above the sand. Around the base of the cathedral, and of course milt upon the steep, rocky slope, is a mass of huge stone buildings that have served through the centuries as monastery, prison, and feudal stronghold. They copceal all but the upper half of the cathedral, which they entirely surround. The lowest foundation is 150 feeLabove the sand. The whole constitutes one mighty

structure, a vast maze of great stone halls, with rows of carved pillars, of endless passages, broad flights of steps and spiral stairways, of horrible dungeons and gloomy vaults. The stone of which it is built was brought from the mainland, nearly two miles, and, •of course, hauled over the sand. Block by block, the stone was brought across the sands, hoisted up the steep cliffs by means of windlasses, and then shaped and carved with infinite patience and rare skill. The building went on at different times between the ninth and fourteenth centuries) and since then separate parts have been many times! destroyed and restored. The architectural beauty and wonderful carving of these buildings would alone make them famous. But because of their unique location, and also because they were built by the monks, who possessed here a little kingdom of their own—so rich and powerful were they when they accomplished the stupendous task, —this crowning glory of Mont St. Michel will long remain one of the marvels of the world, and be to France almost what the pyramids are to Egypt. There is a tiny village on the only accessible side of the Mount. There is room for just one short, narrow street, behind the high walls that rise from the edge of sand. On all other sides the steepness of the cliff itself is its defense. In the village there are about two hundred people, descendants of the original inhabitants of the! mainland, who

fled into places of safety before the attacks of. the Norsemen, over one thousand years ago. They are ail fishermen, except the proprietors of the three hotels. It is but recently that this quaint little village, so queerly located, has been made accessible to visitors unless under the guidance of those who had learned by experience how to cross the sand and its dangers. For in numerous ana everchanging places the surface is as yielding as that of the ocean itself, and strong indeed would be the swimmer who could support himself in a quicksand! But nine years ago the French government built a magnificent dike or stone causeway from the shore to the Mount, and over its smooth surface we hastened, that Saturday afternoon, on our swift wheels, eager to reach the wonderful rock and its still more wonderful buildings, that had loomed before our vision during a whole hour of rapid riding.