Place aux Herbes is a square that was laid out during the reconstruction of the historic town, which began in 1946. Its name comes from the old Rue des Herbes. Actually, it forms an extension of the old Rue des Lauriers, the southern part of which was preserved, and which now comes out at the Rue de la Pie qui Boit.
On the north side, the Place aux Herbes connects with the Rue Gouin de Beauchesne, the name of which refers to the Captain from Saint-Malo who rounded Cape Horn in 1700 after an exploratory voyage along the coasts of Chile and Peru.
This square still retains a few remnants of its past: the back of No. 7 Rue du Point du Jour (17th century) and the façades (17th century) form the corner of 6 Rue de la Harpe and 1 Rue des Lauriers which were rebuilt exactly the way they used to be by the Historic Monuments Commission.
Rue de la Pie qui Boit, which is at the end of the Rue des Lauriers, refers to a public house with a sign showing a magpie quenching its thirst at a wine press.
The east side of the square is flanked by an ensemble that was rebuilt according to drawings drafted by Louis Arretche, the architect who headed the reconstruction of Saint-Malo from 1947 onwards.
The square’s west side is opened up by another passageway under a building; Rue Vincent de Gournay, where the Auberge de la Malice (Malice Inn) was once located, and featuring buildings at numbers 9, 11 and 13 which were rebuilt after the Anglo-Dutch bombardment in 1695.
