48 DIGS.NET
| 12.2.22
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Whether arriving at the island by land or
by sea, one can hardly picture lovelier
shores. At the base of St. Michael's Mount
is a charming harbor village with cottages
for 30 working islanders, a café, and shops.
On high is its magnificent edifice: a Bene-
dictine-built monastery turned castle and a
14th-century church. Today this stronghold
of ancient history makes up the seat of the
St. Aubyn family, including the castle's
current residents and 12th generation St.
Aubyns, the fifth Lord and Lady St. Levan.
If it all reads like a PBS Masterpiece
production, the age-old paths, rambling
gardens, and all that stone is not likely to
dissuade anyone from that perception.
The island and its ramparts make for an
extraordinary set piece (quite literally in the
ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT, a tidal island in
Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England,
is a centuries-old citadel of
history and lore, with strong ties
to both. In the former camp is
the island's medieval, Gothic-facaded
architecture, and in the latter, legend—
sagas that told of seafarers lured onto the
rocks by mermaids or guided to safety by
an apparition of St. Michael. These tales,
along with four miracles said to have
happened here between 1262 and 1263,
have only added to the island's religious
magnetism, drawing pilgrims, monks, and
people of faith here from its earliest days.
The island now welcomes some 350,000
visitors annually in faintly mystical fashion.
At low tide, a long cobblestoned cause-
way connecting mainland Marazion to St.
Michael's Mount reveals itself in full, only
to slip back under the sea at high tide, to
once more swim with the sirens.
