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

A must at an altitude of 65 metres!

Are you ready? The reward is at the top!

This must-do tour of the Pays de Dol and the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel takes us to an altitude of 65 metres and offers one of the most beautiful panoramas in the whole region.
A breathtaking view of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, the marshes and the town of Dol-de-Bretagne. It’s here that you’ll gain a better understanding of the landscape and topography of our region. In the past, the sea completely covered the marshes of Dol, which can be divided into two areas: the white marsh, made up largely of marine sediments to the north, and the black marsh, rich in peat, to the south. The marsh covers almost 1,200 hectares.

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Chapelle Notre Dame De L Esperance Et Tour Notre Dame Mont Dol Simon Bourcier 886
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©simonbourcier.com

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Statue Notre Dame De L Esperance Mont Dol Simon Bourcier 876
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Simon Bourcier

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Chapelle Et Tour Notre Dame Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 14302

To take full advantage of the “Mont-Dol” experience, a climb is a must!

We recommend access on foot from the market car park, below the church of Saint-Pierre.
A short tour of the church of Saint-Pierre will get you in the mood for the ascent to the heavens. Inside this 12th- and 15th-century church, you’ll find a barrel-vaulted nave, pointed arches and, above all, 15th-century murals depicting the Passion of Christ. 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… Don’t worry, he was chased out of the place a long time ago!

Be breathless!

Let’s begin our walk. Pauses are allowed during this ascent, just to admire the magnificent view or to catch your breath!
The path takes us, to a green haven of peace. Among its green friends is a three-hundred-year-old chestnut tree planted in the 17th century by a canon, brother of Monseigneur Thoreau, bishop of Dol from 1661 to 1692.
Over 300 years old, this remarkable tree has a circumference of 12 metres at ground level!

It’s a great place to take a break!

The Tour Notre-Dame and the Chapelle de l’Espérance

Arrived at the top of the knoll, our exploration can begin all in fullness and panoramic views. Our eyes are drawn to the Tour Notre-Dame overlooking this exceptional site. It was blessed in 1857. You can climb to the top of this tower, where you’ll have a magnificent view of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel. On a clear day, you can admire Mont Saint-Michel from the top of the tower, as well as the thousands of stakes, known as bouchots, used for mussel farming.

At the foot of the Tour Notre-Dame, the Chapelle de l’Espérance with its small stone campanile, is built on the foundations of an old Chappe telegraph, once used as a communication system here on the Paris – Brest lines.
There was also an ancient chapel a few metres from the tower. In 1788, Abbé Rever, visiting it in ruins, discovered that the altar tables were in fact two large taurobolic stones, the remains of a pagan temple dating from the Roman occupation.

The wind then takes us to the Moulin du Tertre

This windmill, a building listed in the Monuments Historiques register, is the only one to have preserved its internal mechanism. Built in 1842, it ceased to operate after the Second World War. After repairs to the chestnut-wood roof, its wings were restored in 1995. The mill can be visited in season
In the 19th century, 56 mills of this type were turning with the wind on the coast.

Legends

Speaking of wings, do you know the legends of Mont-Dol? And in particular the battle of the Archangel Saint-Michel against the Devil?
The story goes that the Archangel Saint-Michel conquered Mont-Dol after a tough battle with the Devil. The Archangel used his sword to open a rift into which Satan was swallowed up: witness to this battle, certain rocks on the mound still bear the marks 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 legend, this is the Devil’s Seat.
“The Devil’s footprint” present at the summit of Mont-Dol.

Another mystery, a little further down the mound is a pond. A pond that never runs dry and whose source of water remains a mystery… We’ll leave it to your imagination to do the rest!
The Archangel Saint-Michel and the Devil, were not the only ones to appreciate the heights of Mont-Dol. Mont-Dol has always attracted many visitors. As a teenager, Chateaubriand, a pupil at the college in Dol, used to go there on Thursday walks along the Chemin Vert. This small reed-lined road, which winds through the fields and leads to Dol-de-Bretagne.
The author of “Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe” emphasised the atmosphere, both mysterious and magical of the setting: “From the top of this isolated knoll, the eye glides over the sea and the marshes where, during the night, the feux-follets flutter”.

Théodore Botrel sang of Mont-Dol: “While you, old solitaire, remained faithful and jealous, standing at the peril of the earth, the Mont Saint-Michel of our home…”. The painter Mathurin Méheut, who was greatly inspired by the site, painted a number of pictures there.

Let us tell you the legend ...Le siège et les griffes du Diable au Mont Dol

You can imagine that we’re not the first people to have made this ascent to the summit!

Much earlier than the time of Chateaubriand, the 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 chose this spot to build their shelters and hunt.
The first signs of human occupation and one of the largest Palaeolithic deposits in France were discovered in 1873 when quarrymen were mining granite. The scale of the deposit was exceptional: remains of around fifty mammoths, twelve woolly rhinoceroses, around fifty horses, eight large megaceros deer, ten reindeer, four wolves, a bear, a lion as well as flints, Mousterian points, scrapers, etc…

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Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 303

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Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 292

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Escalade Mont Dol Alexandre Lamoureux 14288

At Mont-Dol, it was quarried!

Before the French Revolution, stone was quarried at Mont-Dol to pave roads and paths, maintain the dyke protecting the marshes and build houses. In April 1911, the département’s Commission des Sites et Monuments Historiques called for the quarries to be closed, putting an end to the gradual but planned disappearance of the mound. A total ban on quarrying was imposed in 1948.

Since then, climbing routes have been set up in these former quarries and are accessible to climbers of all abilities. It’s the second-largest climbing site in Brittany.

It’s obvious, at Mont-Dol we climb!

With our ascent complete, you can continue to keep your feet on the ground by continuing your stroll along the Chemin vert and pretending you’re François-René de Chateaubriand as a student!