It looks like a dream, or something out of a child's book of fairy tales, but this is real – a castle built atop a rock outcropping. It is complete with a sweeping view, a spire, and even a dungeon. It appears the first structure to be built here was around 800ad by Aubert, the Bishop of Avranches. It is the Mont-Tombe, a sanctuary honoring Saint Michael, described as a round building that could hold several dozen people constructed on one of the many craggy slopes. It was superceded 200 years later by a church built on the mountain's actual summit by Benedictine Monks. By now the rock is officially Mont-Saint-Michel, but the locals continue to call it Mervielle well into the 17th century. The remains of this second structure were unearthed in 1908, and appear to be of a more traditional church composition, including a chapel, choir, and other suitable divisions. Much of the Romanesque abbey we see today was not begun until 1023. It was inspired by the need for the Church to exert its authority and influence during the crusades. The structure was expanded so much that the summit was no longer adequate to hold it. Huge foundations had to be built to hold up much of the structure as it overlapped the hillside. The designers had to create new man-made cliffs upon which to build their glorious church. One of these didn't hold up as well as the others, and in 1421 it collapsed upon itself, taking the choir it supported with it. It wasn't the first, or last, tragedy to strike. There have been repeated fires here over the centuries. And the threat of another catastrophic event is always present as the years tick away. But what nature and gravity don't do to change the abbey, man does himself. The original front of the building has been replaced many times, sometimes out of necessity; like when the front "porch" was built to protect the faithful from the elements. Sometimes it is simple whimsey, like when the towers were added to the front so it would be more like Notre Dame in Paris. But following fashion has its price, and one of the towers collapsed into a heap of rubble. In spite of all the fires and all the collapses, the abbey's darkest times come with the modern age. In 1790, the monks flee the abbey as the French Revolution rages. Two years later their fortress is turned into a prison. Horrible alterations are made to the building. Once soaring, lofty spaces are transformed into multi-level storage spaces. Holes are knocked into walls for ventilation, and prisoners kept in one of the holiest places on Earth. The prison is closed in 1863, and a decade later, Napoleon declares the site an historic landmark. That's little comfort to the monks who don't get to return for another hundred years.