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Understand

thumb | 300px | City gates Saint Malo (520-621) was a hermit and preacher from Wales who became the town's first bishop. That settlement was at Aleth 3 km south of the present town, which grew up on an island in the Middle Ages. It was a port on a rocky coastline, made extra hazardous by its tidal range of up to 14 m. It grew with the Atlantic trade - Cartier sailed from here to explore Canada, and Bougainville conferred the town's name on the Malvinas or Falkland Islands. But piracy paid better than legitimate trade or exploration and Saint-Malo was a notorious nest of corsairs through the 16th to 18th centuries, when they became outgunned by national navies.

The town was ringed by stout ramparts, the historic intramuros district, and became fused to the mainland, where the districts of Rocabey, Marville, Courtoisville, Découverte and the railway station grew up. It was heavily bombed in the Second World War but the old town was carefully restored. In 1967 the towns of Paramé to the east and Saint-Servan to the south were incorporated into Saint-Malo city.

is on Esplanade Saint-Vincent next to the castle, open daily 09:30-13:00, 14:00-18:30.

Get around

Walking is the best way to explore the old town. A dinky "Tourist Train" also chunters around.

MAT bus lines run to outlying districts and neighbouring towns.

Taxis wait at the railway station and entrance to old town.

See

Ramparts form a "D" around the old town, studded with defensive towers. You can walk free along them 24 hours. Château de Saint-Malo is at the north end of intramuros, near the start of the causeway to Fort National. The oldest part, the Keep or Grand Donjon, was completed in 1424, and other towers were added during that century. The museum within closed in 2019 so you can only see the exterior. thumb | 300px | Fort National is a tidal islet reached from Bon-Secours beach. It has the remains of an old fort, and at its north end is the grave of François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848). This gloomy writer, diplomat and politician was one of the leading figures of the early 19th century Romantic movement and Roman Catholic revival, but he's now best commemorated in Chateaubriand steak. Petit Bé is reached by a continuation of the tidal causeway beyond Grand Bé. Its fort was built from 1689 and has been partly restored. on an islet further out was built in the 1690s and abandoned in 1901. It's seldom open. is a neo-classical church of 1715-43, with the tower added in the 1830s. It's at 2 Rue Jeanne Jugan near the foot of Aleth peninsula (Bus 8), open Sunday afternoons. thumb | 300px | Chateaubriand lies on Grand Bé Ar Zenith is a historic restored boat on the waterfront near Sainte-Croix. It was built in 1939 as a yawl or "dundee", a small vessel for long-line fishing. On 18 June 1940 when France was occupied by Germany, General Charles de Gaulle broadcast an appeal fr…