[Illustration: 154. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. LONGITUDINAL SECTION, FROM WEST TO EAST] The longitudinal section (Fig. 154) shows the crypt, or lower church. This was not, as has been frequently asserted, actually hollowed out of the rock; it was, however, very ingeniously contrived in the fifteenth century over the ruins of the Romanesque church in the space between the declivity of the mount and the artificial plateau of the earlier architects. The substructures of the Romanesque church which were enlarged by Robert de Thorigni in the thirteenth century are indicated in this diagram. They are of gigantic proportions, especially towards the west. Fig. 155 shows the so-called _Galerie de l'Aquilon_ (Gallery of the North Wind), one of the upper stories of the claustral buildings to the north of the church constructed by Roger II., eleventh abbot (1106-1122). [Illustration: 155. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. GALERIE DE L'AQUILON (GALLERY OF THE NORTH WIND)] [Illustration: 156. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL, NORTH FRONT. GENERAL VIEW FROM THE SEA] [Illustration: 157. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. THE ALMONRY. PERSPECTIVE VIEW LOOKING WEST. THE CELLAR BEYOND] After the fire of 1203, when the abbey had become a feof of the royal domain, the Abbot Jourdain and his successors rebuilt it almost entirely, with the exception of the church. As the peculiarities of the site made it impossible to adhere strictly to the Benedictine system of direct communication between the main buildings and the church, the _lieux réguliers_, or accommodation reserved for the monks, were disposed above the magnificent building to the north of the church, which, from the time of its foundation, was known as _La Merveille_ (the Marvel). [Illustration: 158. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. NAMES OF THE ARCHITECTS OR SCULPTORS OF THE CHOIR] [Illustration: 159. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. CELLAR. PERSPECTIVE VIEW FROM WEST TO EAST. THE ALMONRY BEYOND] This vast structure fairly takes rank as the grandest example of combined religious and military architecture of the finest mediæval period. The _Merveille_ consists of three stories, two of which are vaulted. The lowest contains the almonry and cellar; the intermediate story the refectory and the knights' hall; the third the dormitory and cloister. The building consists of two wings running east and west; the apartments are superposed as follows:--In the east wing the almonry, the refectory, and the dormitory; in the west the cellar, the knights' hall, and the cloister.[56] [56] _Description de l'Abbaye du Mont St. Michel et de ses Abords_, by Ed. Corroyer; Paris, 1877. This splendid structure is built entirely of granite. It was carried out by one continuous effort, under the inspiration of an incomparably bold and learned design of the Abbé Jourdain, to which his successors religiously adhered.