The name of this street refers to the monk who the rock, and then the town founded on it, was named after: Maclow, Maclou or Malo.
Malo was a Breton saint who lived in the 6th century AD and who came from Wales. He crossed the English Channel and became the bishop of the old Gallo-Roman city of Alet, which is now La Cité in Saint-Servan, a neighbourhood that now forms part of greater Saint-Malo (since it was amalgamated with the old town in 1967).
In the 9th century, Malo’s relics were carried from Saintes so they could be placed on Canalch rock, which is also called the “Rocher d’Aaron”, in memory of the first hermit who lived there.
The place was also called the Île d’Aaron and then Saint-Malo de l’Île, due to its insular nature and the prestige of Bishop Malo. In 1145, the Episcopal See was transferred from Alet to Saint-Malo de l’Île upon the initiative of Bishop Jean de Châtillon.
To the right is the old Notre-Dame de la Victoire church which was used as a place of worship for a community of Benedictine nuns founded in 1615 and suppressed during the French Revolution.
In 1959, this old church was integrated into the buildings of the École Nationale de la Marine Marchande (National School of the Merchant Marine) which took the place of the Collège de Marine founded at the request of King Louis XIV in 1669.
