Arriving at the southern end of the ramparts, the walk ends at the Bastion Saint-Louis, one of the advanced bastions protecting the city from the harbor. Built in the first half of the 17th century, it was part of the vast fortification program designed to transform Saint-Malo into a truly impregnable maritime citadel.

From this bastion, the entrance to the harbor basin and the southern approaches to the corsair city were monitored. It is a place steeped in memory, marked today by the presence of a statue paying tribute to one of the most illustrious sons of Saint-Malo: René Duguay-Trouin.

René Duguay-Trouin, corsair and admiral of Saint-Malo

Born in Saint-Malo in 1673, Duguay-Trouin embarked at a young age and quickly demonstrated exceptional talents as a sailor and strategist. Becoming a privateer captain at just 18, he distinguished himself in numerous captures of enemy ships, accumulating prestige and booty for the French crown.

During the reign of Louis XIV, he was integrated into the Royal Navy and took part in major naval campaigns against the English and the Dutch. His most famous exploit remains the capture of Rio de Janeiro in 1711 at the head of a privateer fleet: he captured the city and obtained a huge ransom, an episode that contributed to his legend.

Knighted and promoted to lieutenant general of the naval forces, Duguay-Trouin ended his career covered in honors before dying in Paris in 1736.

His statue, erected on the Bastion Saint-Louis, symbolically watches over the port he so ably defended and embodies the spirit of audacity and freedom inherent in the Saint-Malo corsairs.

Leaving the bastion through the Porte Saint-Louis, one has the feeling of closing a page of history, that of the great maritime epic of Saint-Malo.