The town of Saint-Malo gets its name from a Welsh monk, Mac Low. The legend is that he came and lived on the small island of Aaron (which later became Saint-Malo) during the 6th century.

The history of Saint-Malo was greatly influenced by its geographic position.
Indeed, being only attached to the continent by a strip of land called le Sillon (literally, the furrow), the town quickly developed a defensive architecture and a maritime trade economy.
The first walls were built during the Middle Ages and then fortified and enlarged during the 17th century by Vauban.

Being a welcoming town for many immigrants, Saint-Malo quickly became a highly active port. Not only was it one of the poles of the first triangular maritime network (cod was brought from Newfoundland, sold in Italy for alum that was then brought back to Europe), but it was also a centre where great navigators and privateers would gather.

Jacques Cartier was sent by François I to "this kingdom of Newfoundland to discover isles and countries where it is said one might find much gold and other riches". Cartier left Saint-Malo with two ships on the 20th of April 1534 to discover the New World. On the 24th of July, Cartier and his crew landed in Gaspé, a port in Canada, and took possession of the land in the name of the King of France. The following year, Cartier embarked upon a new journey and sailed up the Saint Lawrence River making a stop at a location that we know today as Montreal.

Robert Surcouf was a ship owner and privateer of Saint-Malo who made his fortune from the sea thanks to clandestine slave trading and privateering against the English. A privateer was an armed ship more or less commissioned by a government for war service against the maritime commerce of the enemies. The maritime exploits of Surcouf are now part of the collective memory of the people of Saint-Malo.


Independent and on the offensive, Saint-Malo and its inhabitants inspired Flaubert with the following sentence in the narration of his travels through Brittany Par les champs, par les grèves: "Set between Brittany and Normandy, this small people seems to have both the tenacity and the stone resistance of the first and the spirit and impetuosity of the second. Sailors, writers or travellers of all oceans, what seems to characterise them most is their audacity (…)."
The people of Saint-Malo needed tenacity and audacity to rebuild their city after the bombings of World War II.

Saint-Malo on the net :


Saint-Malo.com, the gateway site of the Saint-Malo region with local life, tourism, accommodation, and useful information.

The town of Saint-Malo's website is bilingual and offers information about the weather and tides, a dynamic view of the town and an event calendar.

These websites are part of a chain of sites regarding Saint Malo called the Saint-Malo ring.