The siege and the claws of the Devil at Mont Dol | Saint-Malo – Mont-Saint-Michel Bay

When the legends

leave marks!

In the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, in the heart of the Marsh of Dol-de-Bretagne rises the Mont-Dol, an ideal natural site where legends are not lacking. This place once served as a protection for the people, it was a place where one felt as if protected from the gods. In order to enjoy a breathtaking view of the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel and the marshes, we invite you to climb on its mound.

The Devil's Seat

It was on the rock, near the Chapel of Our Lady of Hope, that the Devil took seat to observe one of his enemies Saint-Samson who was building a great church, today the Cathedral of Dol-de-Bretagne. And it is from this siege that the Devil, ulcerated to see this monument being built, seized a rock and projected it on the building to crush it but he had miscalculated his trajectory and the stone only destroyed the top of the north tower. That’s why the upper part of the tower is missing. The stone ended its course in the Dolent field, and gave its name to the eponymous menhir.

We invite you to stand near the seat and observe the view over the entire Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel.

Tradition assures that when Satan was traveling the area, he made huge strides and thus went from the valley of Mireloup to Plerguer to Mont-Dol, and from Mont-Dol to Mont Saint-Michel. The Devil’s foot is the trace left by his steps during this walk.

The Devil's claws

On this same rock, you will be able to observe other marks, these are those of the Devil’s claws. They are the remnants of the Devil’s fight with his most fearsome enemy the Archangel St. Michael.

The legend of this fight:

After the Devil had built the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel and was proudly contemplating his work, the Archangel Saint-Michel challenged him to build a similar marvel, he placed himself on top of Mont-Dol and, in a single night, built a gigantic crystal palace, shining brightly in the rising sun. The Devil, defeated and disillusioned, was about to destroy his own work when St. Michael offered to exchange their respective masterpieces, which was immediately accepted. The Archangel Michael took possession of the mountain, which now bears his name, while the Devil moved into the Archangel’s shining castle. But the walls that seemed to be made of crystal were in reality made of ice that the sun, while rising, melted. At the end of the day, only a pool of ice remained. No need to describe Satan’s rage, realizing how he had been cheated. Their battle was fierce and the Devil, precipitated by his opponent, left the mark of those claws on the rock trying to cling to it before falling to the foot of Mount Dol.

The Devil is not the only one, to have left his footprint on Mont-Dol, the victorious Archangel, took off to fly with a leap to Mont Saint-Michel; the imprint of his foot can still be seen in the granite, south-east of the Virgin’s tower.It is said that in the past, young people wishing to marry within the year came to put their foot in this imprint. It is also from his foot that the Archangel St. Michael sprang the inexhaustible spring that feeds the pond at the top of the mound.