Prehistoric France

 

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Location: Normandy/Brittany borders,  France.

Grid Reference: 48° 38' 10" N, 1° 30' 40" W

 

• Mont St. Michel: (Previously 'Mont Tombe' - 'Tomb on the hill')

Description - Rising to over 500 ft high, the Island of Mont St. Michel silhouettes the sky creating a living work of art of gigantic proportions on a canvas of sky, rock and sea. The site has remained a religious sanctuary since at least the middle-ages, and became an important European pilgrimage site (for Miquelots).

The island is composed of granite, along with several others in the area, which stand out in what is generally a low-lying country. (2)

 

Chronology - According to legend, an enormous tidal wave swept over the area, transforming it completely at the beginning of the 8th century. From the middle ages onwards, the island was dedicated to the worship of the archangel Saint-Michael. In 708 AD, following several visions, the Bishop Aubert sent messengers to Monte Gargano to return with sacred objects (a piece of his red cloak, and a fragment of the alter where he had placed his feet), in order to sanctify the rock and its establishments. (2). Each century since then, the buildings have gained in size and grandeur, reaching their present stature.

 

Archaeo-astronomy - The main section of the structure is orientated at 26° north of true-east (the same as that of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris). This orientation can be followed in both directions creating an alignment with Mont Dol to the SW (the place where St. Michael fought Lucifer), and to d'Avranches to the SE (the original home of Bishop Aubert, to whom St. Michael appeared and ordered him to dedicate the rock in his name).

 

Alignments - As well as the alignment above, which is clearly solar in nature. Mont St. Michel is also claimed to be aligned to several other sites dedicated to St. Michael. It is said to run from Mont Carmel in Israel (the rock of the prophet Eli), the n passes through Delos and Delphi (both oracle sites dedicated to Apollo), Corfu (where Artemis, the sister of Apollo lived), Monte Gargano in Italy (the primary European sanctuary of St. Michael and where he appeared several times), La Sacra di San Michele in Piémont, the celebrated Benedictine monastery over 1000m high, Mont St. Michel in Normandy, Saint Michael's mount off the point of Cornwall, and Skellig Michael, an island to the south of Ireland (1). This remarkable alignment is apparently only visible on a Mercatorial map, suggesting a knowledge of longitude and latitude.

Mont. St. Michel from Mont Dol. (Note - This alignment is unconfirmed at present).

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