The transatlantic single-handed yacht raceRoute du Rhum, which takes place every four years in November, is between Saint Malo andPointe-à-Pitre inGuadeloupe.
The population in 2017 was 46,097[6] – though this can increase to up to 300,000 in the summer tourist season. With the suburbs included, the metropolitan area's population is approximately 133,000 (2017).[7]
The population of the commune more than doubled in 1967 with the merging of three communes: Saint-Malo,Saint-Servan (population 14,963 in 1962) andParamé (population 8,811 in 1962).
Inhabitants of Saint-Malo are calledMalouins in French.[8] The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Saint-Malo proper in its geography for the given years.[9]
Founded byGauls in the 1st century BC, the ancient town on the site of Saint-Malo was known as theRomanReginca orAletum. By the late 4th century AD, theSaint-Servan district was the site of a majorSaxon Shorepromontory fort that protected theRanceestuary from seaborne raiders from beyond the frontiers. According to theNotitia Dignitatum, the fort was garrisoned by themilitum Martensium under adux (commander) of theTractus Armoricanus et Nervicanus section of thelitus Saxonicum. During the decline of theWestern Roman Empire,Armorica (modern-day Brittany) rebelled from Roman rule under theBagaudae and in the 5th and 6th centuries received manyCeltic Britons fleeing instability across the Channel. The modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to amonastic settlement founded bySaint Aaron andSaint Brendan early in the sixth century. Its name is derived from a man said to have been a follower ofBrendan the Navigator,Saint Malo or Maclou, an immigrant from what is nowWales.
Saint-Malo is the setting ofMarie de France's poem "Laüstic," a 12th-century love story. The city had a tradition of asserting its autonomy in dealings with the French authorities and even with the local Breton authorities.
From 1590 to 1594, Saint-Malo declared itself to be an independent republic, when 'la république de Saint-Malo' (Saint Malo Republic) functioned as a de factocity-state, and from whence the town takes its defiant motto "not French, not Breton, but Malouin" (‘Ni Français, ni Breton, Malouin suis’).[10]
Old map of Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of thecorsairs, Frenchprivateers and sometimespirates. In the 19th century, this "piratical" notoriety was portrayed inJean Richepin's playLe flibustier and inCésar Cui'seponymous opera. The corsairs of Saint-Malo not only forced English ships passing up the Channel to pay tribute but also brought wealth from further afield.Jacques Cartier lived in, and sailed from, Saint-Malo to theSaint Lawrence River, visiting the villages ofStadacona andHochelaga that would later become the sites of present-dayQuebec City andMontreal respectively. As the first European to encounter these sites and learning the local word "Kanata" (meaning a group of houses), Cartier is credited as the discoverer ofCanada.
Inhabitants of Saint-Malo are calledMalouins in French. From this came the Spanish nameIslas Malvinas for thearchipelago known in English as the Falkland Islands. Islas Malvinas derives from the 1764 nameÎles Malouines, given to the islands byFrench explorerLouis-Antoine de Bougainville.[8] Bougainville, who founded the archipelago's first settlement, named the islands after the inhabitants of Saint-Malo, the point of departure for his ships and colonists.[8]
In 1758, theRaid on Saint-Malo saw a British expedition land, intending to capture the town. However, the British made no attempt on Saint-Malo and instead occupied the nearby town of Saint-Servan, where they destroyed 30 privateers before departing.
InWorld War II, during fighting in late August and early September 1944, the historic walled city of Saint-Malo was almost totally destroyed by American shelling and bombing.[11][12] The beaches of nearbyDinard had been heavily fortified against possible Allied commando raids. Artillery at the two locations provided mutual support. The fortification complex was garrisoned by more than twelve thousand German troops from different services and units as well as stragglers from other battles in theCotentin. About eight thousand Germans were in Saint-Malo itself when the battle began.[13]
ColonelAndreas von Aulock, the German commander, refused to surrender when asked to do so by the town's authorities. He said he "would defend St. Malo to the last man even if the last man had to be himself".
The first American attack was launched by the83rd Infantry Division on 5 August 1944. German positions atChâteauneuf quickly fell.Cancale was abandoned and occupied by the Americans on the 6th. In the same way and on the same day,Dinan fell toFree French forces. The Germans shortened their lines and drew closer to the ancient citadel atSt. Servan-sur-Mer, now reinforced with concrete.
Effective German artillery emplacements on the island ofCezembre were out of reach of American ground forces. German garrisons on the Channel Islands ofJersey,Guernsey, andAlderney were able to use small craft to bring in water and remove the wounded from the battle.[13]
On 13 August, the walled city was on fire and a short truce was declared to allow French civilians to flee the city. Outlying German positions at St. Ideuc and La Varde fell to infantry attacks. This fighting ended resistance on the north shore of the peninsula. Only the citadel remained. Surrounded by American artillery and under frequent air attack, this last holdout surrendered on the afternoon of 17 August.
Cezembre surrendered on 2 September when the three-hundred-man garrison ran out of drinking water. The Americans had taken more than ten thousand prisoners during the two-week fight, von Aulock among them.[13]
TheGulf of Saint-Malo has an oceanic temperate climate. Temperatures are softened by theGulf Stream and the range of average temperatures between winter and summer is very low (from 6.1°C in January to 17.8°C in August) with an average temperature of 11.6°C.
Climate data for Saint-Malo (Dinard) (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1950–present)
Saint-Malo has a terminal for ferry services with daily departures toPortsmouth and on most days, departures toPoole viaGuernsey, all operated byBrittany Ferries.[23][24]DFDS Seaways operates a service most days toJersey.[25] It also has a railway station,Gare de Saint-Malo, offering directTGV service to Rennes, Paris and several regional destinations. There is a bus service provided by Keolis. The town is served by theDinard–Pleurtuit–Saint-Malo Airport around 5 kilometres (3 miles) to the south.
Now inseparably attached to themainland, Saint-Malo is the most visited place in Brittany. Sites of interest include:
The walled city (La Ville Intra-Muros)
TheChâteau de Saint-Malo, part of which accommodates the town museum and the Hôtel de Ville (town hall)[26]
TheSolidor Tower in Saint-Servan is a 14th-century building that holds a collection tracing the history of voyages aroundCape Horn. Manyscale models,nautical instruments and objects made by the sailors during their crossing or brought back from foreign ports invoke thoughts of travel aboard extraordinarytall ships at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.
The Privateer's House ("La Demeure de Corsaire"), a ship-owner's town house built in 1725, shows objects from the history of privateering, weaponry and ship models.
Panoramic view from the tidal islandGrand Bé during low tideView of the walled city from the south-westPanoramic view of the old walled city with bastion St. Philippe (left) and cathedrale St Vincent from the southPanoramic view of La Cité, Cap-Hornier, les Corbières at the Quai Sébastopol from the south
Alfred Blunt (1879–1957),AnglicanBishop of Bradford, England, was born at St Malo of British expatriate parents and brought up there until the family returned to England in 1887.
^"Répertoire national des élus: les maires".data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved1 March 2021.
^abcBlumenson, Martin (20 November 2012).Breakout and Pursuit: U.S. Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations. Whitman Publishing; Har/Map edition.ISBN978-0794837679.
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