Saint-Malo

For other uses, see Saint Malo (disambiguation).
Saint-Malo
Saent-Malô

Walled city

Flag
Coat of arms
Saint-Malo

Coordinates: 48°38′53″N 2°00′27″W / 48.6481°N 2.0075°W / 48.6481; -2.0075Coordinates: 48°38′53″N 2°00′27″W / 48.6481°N 2.0075°W / 48.6481; -2.0075
Country France
Region Brittany
Department Ille-et-Vilaine
Arrondissement Saint-Malo
Canton Saint-Malo-Nord and Saint-Malo-Sud
Intercommunality Saint-Malo
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Claude Renoult
Area1 36.58 km2 (14.12 sq mi)
Population (2012)2 44,620
 • Density 1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 35288 / 35400
Elevation 0–51 m (0–167 ft)
(avg. 8 m or 26 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Saint-Malo (French pronunciation: ​[sɛ̃.ma.lo]; Gallo : Saent-Malô; Breton: Sant-Maloù) is a walled port city in Brittany in northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine.

Traditionally with an independent streak, Saint-Malo was in the past notorious for privateering (the "cité corsaire"). Today the city is a major tourist destination, with many ancient, attractive buildings.

Population

The population can increase to up to 200,000 in the summer tourist season. With the suburbs included, the population is approximately 153,000 (2011).

The population of the commune more than doubled in 1968 with the merging of three communes: Saint-Malo, Saint-Servan (population 14,963 in 1962) and Paramé (population 8811 in 1962).

Historical population
YearPop.±%

Inhabitants of Saint-Malo are called Malouins in French. From this came the name of the Malvinas – the Falkland Islands named Îles Malouines by French explorer Louis-Antoine de Bougainville in 1764.[1]

History

Old map of Saint-Malo

Saint-Malo during the Middle Ages was a fortified island at the mouth of the Rance River, controlling not only the estuary but the open sea beyond. The promontory fort of Aleth, south of the modern centre in what is now the Saint-Servan district, commanded approaches to the Rance even before the Romans, but modern Saint-Malo traces its origins to a monastic settlement founded by Saint Aaron and Saint Brendan early in the sixth century. Its name is derived from a man said to have been a follower of Brendan, Saint Malo or Maclou.

Saint-Malo is the setting of Marie de France's poem "Laustic," an 11th-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 1593, Saint-Malo declared itself to be an independent republic, taking the motto "not French, not Breton, but Malouin."[2]

Saint-Malo became notorious as the home of the corsairs, French privateers and sometimes pirates. In the 19th century, this "piratical" notoriety was portrayed in Jean Richepin's play Le flibustier and in César Cui's eponymous 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, who sailed the Saint Lawrence River and visited the sites of Quebec City and Montreal, and is thus credited as the discoverer of Canada, lived in and sailed from Saint-Malo, as did the first colonists to settle the Falkland Islands, hence the Islands' French name "Îles Malouines," which eventually gave rise to the Spanish name "Islas Malvinas." In 1758, the Raid on St 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.

In World 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 as well as British naval gunfire.[3][4] Saint-Malo was rebuilt over a 12-year period from 1948-1960.

The commune of Saint-Servan was merged, together with Paramé, and became the commune of Saint-Malo in 1967.

Saint-Malo was the site of an Anglo-French summit in 1998 that led to a significant agreement regarding European defence policy.

Climate

Climate data for Dinard
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.4
(61.5)		 18.7
(65.7)		 23.2
(73.8)		 26.9
(80.4)		 29.2
(84.6)		 33.1
(91.6)		 35.4
(95.7)		 39.4
(102.9)		 33.1
(91.6)		 28.9
(84)		 19.3
(66.7)		 17.6
(63.7)		 39.4
(102.9)
Average high °C (°F) 8.8
(47.8)		 9.3
(48.7)		 11.9
(53.4)		 13.7
(56.7)		 17.0
(62.6)		 19.8
(67.6)		 21.9
(71.4)		 22.0
(71.6)		 20.0
(68)		 16.3
(61.3)		 12.0
(53.6)		 9.2
(48.6)		 15.2
(59.4)
Average low °C (°F) 3.4
(38.1)		 3.1
(37.6)		 4.8
(40.6)		 5.9
(42.6)		 9.0
(48.2)		 11.5
(52.7)		 13.5
(56.3)		 13.6
(56.5)		 11.7
(53.1)		 9.4
(48.9)		 6.1
(43)		 3.7
(38.7)		 8.0
(46.4)
Record low °C (°F) −13.7
(7.3)		 −11.7
(10.9)		 −6.2
(20.8)		 −2.8
(27)		 −0.2
(31.6)		 3.6
(38.5)		 6.7
(44.1)		 5.0
(41)		 2.3
(36.1)		 −4.2
(24.4)		 −5.9
(21.4)		 −9.6
(14.7)		 −13.7
(7.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 67.0
(2.638)		 57.6
(2.268)		 53.5
(2.106)		 53.0
(2.087)		 63.6
(2.504)		 49.1
(1.933)		 49.7
(1.957)		 49.4
(1.945)		 62.2
(2.449)		 86.8
(3.417)		 86.8
(3.417)		 80.0
(3.15)		 758.7
(29.87)
Average precipitation days 12.6 10.8 11.1 10.7 10.3 7.8 7.6 8.0 9.7 13.6 13.8 13.4 129.5
Average snowy days 1.7 2.5 1.4 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 1.4 7.9
Average relative humidity (%) 84 81 79 79 79 81 81 81 82 85 84 85 81.8
Mean monthly sunshine hours 69.5 84.3 127.5 164.1 188.4 206.4 206.4 198.6 167.1 112.6 77.8 64.0 1,666.6
Source #1: Meteo France (1981-2010, sunshine 1991-2010) [5][6]
Source #2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity, snowy days 1961–1990)[7]

Food

Saint-Malo has one of the highest concentration of restaurants in Europe. It is famous for its oysters from the nearby town of Cancale.

Education

School

Lycee Institution Saint Malo-La Providence,
Lycee Maupertuis,
Lycee Jacques Cartier,
Professional Maritime Lycee Lycee Les Rimains

Higher education

Institute of Technology of Saint-Malo,
A nurse school,
A maritime school

Transport

Saint-Malo has a terminal for ferry services with daily departures to Portsmouth operated by Brittany Ferries[8] and services on most days Poole and Weymouth in England via the Channel Islands operated by Condor Ferries.[9] It also has a railway station, Gare de Saint-Malo, offering direct TGV service to Rennes, Paris and several regional destinations. There is a bus service provided by Keolis. The town is served by the Dinard–Pleurtuit–Saint-Malo Airport around 5 kilometres (3 miles) to the south.

Sites of interest

Beach at low tide in Saint-Malo
Saint-Malo

Now inseparably attached to the mainland, Saint-Malo is the most visited place in Brittany. Sites of interest include:

Panoramic view from the tidal island Grand Bé during low tide
View of the walled city from the south-west

Personalities

François-René de Chateaubriand's grave, on Rocher du Grand Bé

Saint-Malo was the birthplace of:

Twin towns – Sister cities

Saint-Malo is twinned with:

Gallery

In popular culture

Much of the action in Anthony Doerr's 2014 award-winning novel, All the Light We Cannot See, occurs in Saint-Malo.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hince, Bernadette (2001). The Antarctic Dictionary. Collingwood, Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9577471-1-1.
  2. ↑ S. and J. Beaulieu, Saint-Malo et l'histoire, p 10 to 32
  3. ↑ "Key Dates". Saint-Malo official website..
  4. ↑ http://www.angelfire.com/va2/worldwar2family/rolland2.html
  5. ↑ "Données climatiques de la station de Dinard" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Climat Bretagne" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Normes et records 1961-1990: Dinard - St Malo (35) - altitude 58m" (in French). Infoclimat. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Portsmouth to St Malo". Brittany Ferries.
  9. ↑ "St. Malo destination guides". Condor Ferries. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  10. ↑ Ripley, George and Dana, Charles Anderson (2010). The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge 8. Nabu Press. pp. 410–411. ISBN 978-1146913317.
  11. ↑ "International collaboration". gmiezno.eu. Gniezno. Retrieved 3 May 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Saint-Malo.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Saint-Malo.
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