Saint-Malo through the ages

Saint-Malo in 1720

City of the Corsairs

Saint-Malo in 1720 sits at the height of its corsair riches: shipowners’ granite mansions crowd the ramparts and the quays roar with prize money and barrels of Newfoundland cod. This walk follows the city from the bay and tide-islands, along Garangeau’s walls and bustling quays, through the cathedral’s pinched lanes and market yards to the open sea beyond the Sillon.

A compact, granite-walled island town ringed by thick ramparts and cannon, its skyline a needle-like cathedral spire and the squat keep of the château. Roofs are steep slate and lead, façades grey and patchy, with fresh limewash on some merchant houses. The harbour is a forest of masts and spars; at low tide broad sands and salt meadows unfold between tidal rocks, forts and islets.

Planned from the Wikipedia record: Saint-Malo.