Coastal at one moment,
一时海滨
isolated island at another,
一时孤岛
Mont Saint-Michel is incredibly stunning no matter the tide.
潮起潮落，圣米歇尔山始终是个令人神往的地方
In between two powerful tides from Normandy and Brittany
在诺曼底和布列塔尼两地潮水的簇拥之下
stands the gothic-styled Benedictine Abbey
矗立着哥特式本笃会修道院
named after and dedicated to the archangel Saint Michael.
该修道院以大天使圣米歇尔的名义修建
Mont Saint-Michel wasn't always an island.
圣米歇尔山并非总是一座小岛
In prehistoric times, it stood on dry land.
很久很久以前，小岛的周围还是大陆
However, as sea levels rose, erosion reshaped the coast.
然而，随着海平面上升，海水的冲刷改变了小岛周围的模样

Even today, it only sits 600 meters from land.
时至今日，此处距陆地也不过600米
Although it has less than 50 full-time residents,
尽管岛上的常住居民不到50人，
it is visited by more than three million people each year.
这里的年游客量多达300多万
The climb to see the abbey isn't easy.
要爬上小岛去看修道院并非易事
It's around 900 steps.
要爬900步左右的台阶
More than just a church on a rock,
圣米歇尔山不止是坐崖边教堂
Mont Saint-Michel is a medieval time capsule
它还是一个中古时期的时间胶囊
and was one of the first monuments to be classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1979.
早在1979年，就被列入联合国教科文组织第一批世界文化遗产名录