the corsair city - Office de Tourisme de Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo Intra-Muros
Le Petit Bé
14
Le Grand Bé
11
13
Maison
du Québec
the corsair city
3
Ecole
5
7
8
4
2
Demeure
de Corsaire
6
12
10
1
Office de Tourisme
2 St-Louis Bastion (1714-1721)
3 St-Philippe Bastion (1714)
7 The House of Poets ans Writers
8 Duchess Anne’s Mansion
9 Statue of François-René de Chateaubriand
10 Statue of René Duguay-Trouin
11 Statue of Jacques Cartier
4 St-Vincent Cathedral (11th -18th)
12 Statue of Bertrand-François Mahé
de la Bourdonnais
5 André Désilles Mansion (17th)
13 Statue of Robert Surcouf
6 Magon de la Lande Mansion
« Hôtel d’Asfeld »
14 Tomb of François-René de Chateaubriand
Esplanade Saint-Vincent - 35400 Saint-Malo
00 33 825 135 200
saint-malo-tourisme.com
Crédits photos : F. Buxin •D. Torchut • W. Berré •NG Hernout •Saint-Malo Tourisme
L’Explograf cartographie - LM Y&R charte graphique
1 Duchess Anne’s Castle
History Museum
Main Tower (1424)
La Générale Tower (1475)
Moulins Tower (1500)
Quic-en-Groigne Tower (1498)
9
Château
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T o w e rs
Saint-Malo was named after Welsh monk Mac Low, who, around the 6th c., established his bishopric in Alet, a stonethrow away from the rock where the walled city now stands. As early as the 13th century, the “Malouins” were already
quite successful at catching enemy ships. In 1308, they instated a sworn city and from 1395 to 1415, they swore
allegiance to King Charles VI of France, who granted their port free practice.
It was to keep them under control that the Duchy of Brittany had the main castle built, which the Malouins
overtook in 1590; later, they declared themselves an independent republic, which lasted four years.
Jacques Cartier, in his 1534 to 1542 travels, had already opened the Newfoundland route and
discovered Canada.
Formerly called «Saint-Malo de l’Isle», the City, clustered around its cathedral within its very tight
16 hectares, burnt down for the first time in 1661. In the following years, architects Vauban and
Garangeau rehabilitated it and extended it to 24 hectares, in 4 steps.
p a rt s
a n d ra m
St-Malo has been a seaward fortress since the Middle Ages. The oldest witnesses
of that are the Petit Donjon of the walled city and the Solidor Tower in Saint-Servan.
Grand Donjon (Main Tower), laid out as a horseshoe, the 4 huge angle towers, with their 2 to 3-metre thick walls,
were harbingers to the bastion-oriented design prescribed by Vauban in the late 17th c. Garangeau erected the
seaward islet forts (Fort National, Fort du Petit Bé, Fort de la Conchée…) according to his drawings, and thus
made the port roads impregnable The magnificent ship owners’ mansions near Porte de Dinan and Porte
Saint-Vincent were built in the 17th century.
The traders’ wealth cannot be better expressed than by their dwelling legacy. If the half-timbered, stained-glass
windowed houses, resembling gallion sterncastles, have nearly all disappeared but one, there are still enough
authentic stone buildings to attest to what Saint-Malo looked like (e.g., Hôtel d’Asfeld).
Thanks to its seafarers and merchant ship owners, who commissioned vessels to Eastern
Indies, China, Africa and the Americas, the City enjoyed prodigious prosperity in the 17th
and 18th centuries. Chateaubriand, Lamennais, but above all the famous seafarers and
privateers : Duguay-Trouin, who conquered Rio de Janeiro in 1711 and Surcouf, a few
decades later, contributed to Saint-Malo’s outstanding prestige. When in 1815 Privateers’
Commissions were abolished, the Saint-Malo ship owners commissioned their ships to
Newfoundland and kept developing their port.
A h is t o r ic
io n
r e c o n st r u c t
d the
’ mansions an g to
ship owners
yin
tr
sk
ta
a
Between the
ve
itors will ha
Malo
Cathedral, vis mained of the old Saintthe
re
t
in
ha
w
as
w
e
ded it
visualis
perfectly blen
after 1944, so
n.
reconstructio
ters
hall, also shel
of
now the town
,
le
ns
st
io
ca
ct
n
lle
ai
re co
The m
Museum whe a are preserved,
ili
the History
ab
or
past
ouins’ mem
illustrious Mal nuine testimonies of the
ge
ith
w
er
th
ge
to
seafaring city.
activities of a
Unfortunately, the 1944 liberation battles devastated the town and destroyed the walled
city by 80%. It is from those preserved and restored ruins that Saint-Malo rose again,
thanks to a careful and heritage-conscious reconstruction design.
A city of granite rebuilt with its
original style and skyline
Because of fires, Saint-Malo has kept only 2 or 3
specimens of half-timbered construction, e.g., the
inner courtyard of Chateaubriand’s birth place, timberpanelled houses in rue du Pélicot or the Recollets
archway over Rue des Vieux Remparts ; they date back
to before the 1661 fire. The House of Poets ans Writers,
built in early 17th c., was probably designed by naval
architects and built partly with recycled ship material.
o p r ic
gan
T h e B is h
nstruction be d
l, whose co
t Cathedra
style nave an
Saint-Vincen
ed an Anjoue
ntury, includ
constitute th
ce
s
th
nt
12
na
e
m
th
re
in
t gothicse restored
en
ho
fic
w
ni
,
ag
er
m
st
a cloi
ral. The
was
of the cathed
e flat chevet
oldest part
ed
Norman styl
or
ost
gl
re
An
lly
ith
fu
w
re
style choir
the 12th c. Ca
ith
of
w
e
d
dl
ne
id
or
m
e
ad
n, it was
erected in th
high and
l destructio
a
ia
d
rt
an
pa
s
w
its
after
s windo
stained glas
outstanding
.
sharp spire
From the late 16th century and mainly during the two
subsequent centuries, stone was increasingly used,
that of Chausey islands in particular, which significantly
changed the city’s aspect.
Although the walls and castle were spared by the 1944
destruction, three quarters of the city were rebuilt :
some front walls near the ramparts were rebuilt
exactly as they were under the auspices of the French
Directorate of Listed Buildings.
The attractiv
eness of the
historic city is
doubled by ju
st as rich surr
• Saint-Serv
oundings :
an and the Ci
té d’Aleth, a
Bay and the
peninsula ov
river Rance Es
er
looking the Sa
tuary, the To
the entrance
ur Solidor (C
bastion and
int-Malo/Dina
ape Horners
the 3 towers
fortified com
rd
’ Museum) in
plex.
erected at th
clud
e end of the
• La Digue,
14th making es
the seafront
up a
• Rothéneuf
wall and pr
with the Man
omenade lin
oir de Limoë
king Saint-M
Sculptés (han
lo
u
(J
al
d-carved rock
s), Abbé Four acques Cartier’s manorho o to Paramé,
é’s lifetime m
use), the Roch
asterpiece,
ers
A few mansion
s specific to
the St-Malo re
as le Puits Sa
uvage, la Ch
gi
on, adequate
ipaudière, la
Located betw
ly called “Mal
Ville Bague...
ee
ouinières” su
ch
Saint Malo is n the Mont Saint-Miche
l, Cancale, Di
on the so-cal
nard, Dinan
led “Emerald
by a number
and Cape Fr
Coast” (“Côte
of natural, cu
éhel,
ltural and hist
d’
orical sites w Emeraude”) and surrou
nded
orth a visit.