The undertaking was entered upon in 1203 and finished in 1228, the final achievement being the cloister, the architects or sculptors of which are commemorated by an inscription in the spandril of one of the arcades in the south walk. [Illustration: 160. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. REFECTORY] [Illustration: 161. ABBEY OF MONT ST. MICHEL. CHAPTER-HOUSE, CALLED THE HALL OF THE KNIGHTS] To fully appreciate this stupendous monument, we must realise the extraordinary energy which enabled its architects to complete it in the comparatively short space of twenty-five years. We must take into account the conditions of its growth, its situation on the very summit of a rugged cliff, cut off from the mainland at times by the sea, at other times by an expanse of treacherous quicksand. We must consider the enormous difficulties of transporting materials, seeing that all the granite used was quarried by the monks from the neighbouring coast. It is true that an unimportant quota of the stone was dug from the base of the rock itself. But though the passage across the sands was by this means avoided, the difficulties of raising great masses of stone to the foot of the _Merveille_, the foundations of which are over 160 feet above the sea-level, had still to be met. It seems certain that the east and west buildings of which the _Merveille_ consists were built at the same time, for though certain differences are perceptible in the form of the exterior buttresses, they evidently result from the interior formation of the various apartments. A study of the plans, sections, and façades of the buildings is convincing on this head, and the general arrangements, notably that of the staircase, all point to the same conclusion. This staircase is a spiral in the thickness of the buttress which, with its crowning octagonal turret, forms the point of junction between the two buildings. It winds from the almonry of the eastern ground-floor to the knights' hall on the west, passing through the dormitory of the eastern block to terminate in the northern embattlement above. [Illustration: 162. ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT, CORNWALL] The eastern and northern façades of the _Merveille_ are models of severe and virile beauty; a massive grandeur characterises them, especially striking and impressive in the northern front as viewed from the sea. The vast walls of granite (the material used throughout, save in the inner walk of the cloister) are pierced with windows varying in shape according to the character of the rooms they light. Those of the dormitory are very remarkable. They are long and narrow, and affect the aspect of loopholes, deeply splayed outwards; the peculiar form of the honeycombed window-heads suggests a reminiscence of Arab types seen by the French Crusaders in Palestine. The thrusts of the interior vaulting are met on the exterior by massive buttresses, the vigorous profiles of which contribute greatly to the nobility of the general effect.