Admire the panoramic view from Mount Dol | Saint-Malo – Mont-Saint-Michel Bay

A must-have

at an altitude of 65 meters!

Are you ready? The reward is at the top!

This must-see in the Pays de Dol and the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, takes us to 65 meters above sea level and offers us one of the most beautiful panoramas of the entire region.An unobstructed view of both the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, the marshes and the town of Dol-de-Bretagne. It is here that you can better understand the landscape and topography of our territory. In the past, the sea completely covered the marshes of Dol, which can be distinguished in two aspects: the white marsh, made up largely of marine sediments to the north, and the black marsh, rich in peat, to the south. This marsh spreads over nearly 1,200 hectares.

Chapelle Notre Dame De L Esperance Et Tour Notre Dame Mont Dol Simon Bourcier 886

Statue Notre Dame De L Esperance Mont Dol Simon Bourcier 876

Chapelle Et Tour Notre Dame Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 14302

To fully enjoy the “Mont-Dol” experience, an ascent is a must!”

We recommend access on foot from the market parking lot, below the church of St. Peter.A short tour through the church of St. Peter, will get you in shape for the ascent to the heavens. Inside this church dating from the 12th and 15th centuries, you will be able to observe a barrel vaulted nave, pointed arch arches, but also and above all, wall paintings dating from the 15th century, relating the Passion of Christ. Note: the last fresco, which is not part of the Passion cycle, gives us a frightening image of Hell. The Devil has left his mark here but also elsewhere we will have the opportunity to discover it… No worries, he was chased out of the place a long time ago!

Be breathless!

Let’s start our walk. Pauses are allowed during this climb, only to admire the magnificent view or to catch our breath!”The path leads us, towards a green haven of peace. A plant break is offered to us, in the middle of his buddies all green, imposes itself a tricentenary chestnut tree planted in the 17th century by a canon, brother of Monseigneur Thoreau, bishop of Dol from 1661 to 1692.Aged more than 300 years, this remarkable tree has a circumference on the ground of 12 meters!

The Notre Dame Tower and the Chapel of Hope

Arrived on the top of the knoll, our exploration can begin all in fullness and panoramas. Our eyes go to the Notre-Dame Tower which overlooks this exceptional site. It was blessed in 1857. You can access the top of this tower, where you will have a magnificent view of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. At the foot of the Notre-Dame Tower, the Chapel of Hope with its small stone campanile, is built on the bases of an old Chappe telegraph, formerly used as a system of communication, here, on the lines of Paris – Brest.There was also, a few meters from the tower, an ancient chapel. In 1788, Abbot Rever, visiting it then in ruins, discovered that the altar tables were in fact two large taurobic stones, remains of a pagan temple dating from the Roman occupation.

The wind then leads us to the Moulin du Tertre

This windmill, a building listed in the register of Historic Monuments, is the only one to have preserved its interior mechanism. Built in 1842, it stopped working after the Second World War. After the repair of the chestnut wood roof, it recovered its wings in 1995. In the 19th century, 56 mills of this type turned with the wind on the coast.

Legends

Speaking of wings, do you know the legends of Mont-Dol? And in particular the fight of the Archangel Saint-Michel against the Devil? It is said that the Archangel Saint-Michel conquered Mont-Dol after a tough fight with the Devil. The Archangel opened with his sword a fault in which Satan was swallowed up: witnesses of this battle, some rocks of the mound still bear the trace of the Devil’s claws. Near the chapel, on the edge of the plateau, an imposing rock has a hollow on its front face: according to the legend, it is the Devil’s Seat. Another mystery, a little lower down on the mound is a pond. The Archangel Saint-Michel and the Devil were not the only ones to appreciate the heights of Mont-Dol. Mont-Dol has always attracted the interest of many visitors. Chateaubriand, as a teenager, a student at the college of Dol, used to come there on Thursday for a walk along the Chemin Vert. The author of “Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe” underlined the atmosphere, both mysterious and magical of the setting: “From the top of this isolated mound, the eye glides over the sea and the marshes where the fires fly during the night.Théodore Botrel sang of Mont-Dol: “While you, old solitary, remained faithful and jealous, standing at the peril of the earth, the Mont Saint-Michel of our home…”. The painter Mathurin Méheut, who was very inspired, painted many pictures there.

Let us tell you the legend ...The siege and the claws of the Devil at Mont Dol

You can imagine that we are not the first to have made this ascent to the summit!

Much older than Chateaubriand’s time, Mammoths had taken up residence on Mont-Dol. Yes Mammoths, like Manny the Mammoth from the Ice Age!”Like us, they too enjoyed this magnificent panorama of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.110,000 years ago, Neanderthal hunters had chosen this place to build their shelters and hunt.The first signs of human occupation and one of the largest Paleolithic deposits in France were discovered in 1873 when quarrymen exploited the granite. The size of the deposit was exceptional: remains of about fifty mammoths, twelve woolly rhinoceroses, about fifty horses, eight large megaceros deer, ten reindeer, four wolves, a bear, a lion as well as flints, mousterian points, scrapers, etc…

Bring a Mammoth with you!On sale at the Tourist Information Office of Dol-de-Bretagne

Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 303

Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 292

Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 14288

At Mont-Dol, it was quarried!

Before the Revolution, stone from Mont-Dol was extracted for the paving of paths and roads, for the maintenance of the dike protecting the marshes as well as for the construction of houses. In April 1911, the Commission of Sites and Historic Monuments of the department requested the closure of the quarries and put an end to the gradual but programmed disappearance of the mound. The total ban on exploitation dates from 1948, after which climbing routes were built in these old quarries and are accessible to climbers of all levels. It is the second climbing site in Brittany.

It is an evidence, in Mont-Dol we climb!

Our ascent finished, you can continue to keep your feet on earth by continuing your walk on the Green Way and take yourself for François-René de Chateaubriand student!