Ancien hôtel du Pélican
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ancien hôtel du Pélican, located in Saint-Malo (Département 35), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Saint-Malo, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6370, -2.0162
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090818
A vestige of stone and history in the heart of Saint-Malo's inner city, the Hôtel du Pélican (1714) hides behind its intact façade the secrets of a royalist conspiracy that shook the Revolution.
History
Along the cobbled streets of the inner city of Saint-Malo, the former Hôtel du Pélican stands with the haughty discretion of the great merchant houses of the early 18th century. Its Breton granite facade, pierced by small-paned windows that are still in their original state, unostentatiously displays the date 1714 engraved above the entrance porch - a signature that is enough to conjure up three centuries of maritime, commercial and political history. What sets Le Pélican apart from the crowd of private mansions in Saint Malo is the consistency with which it has been preserved: where the Second World War razed or disfigured so many buildings in the corsair town, the original façade has survived the bombs and rebuilding practically intact. The three-step granite base, the window surrounds, the rhythm of the three storeys - everything still speaks the sober, solid language of the regional architecture of the late Grand Siècle. Entering the porch reveals a fascinating technical device: a movable floor hinged to an iron gallows used to lower the barrels to the cellar using a hoist. This ingenious mechanism is a reminder that the hotel was not just a passing inn, but the hub of a vast logistical complex - stables, sheds, cellars - serving Saint-Malo's intense trade with the sea and the Channel Islands. But it is the memorial value of its walls that gives Le Pélican its unique aura. During the Revolution, its corridors sheltered the members of a royalist conspiracy, La Rouërie, whose emissaries travelled back and forth between Saint-Malo, Jersey and England to keep the princes in exile informed. The ensuing arrest, betrayal and arrests all took place within these walls. Registering the hotel as a Historic Monument in 1964 was recognition that a residence can be as much a witness to history as it is a setting for it. Today, Le Pélican is a natural choice for exploring the old town of Saint-Malo. Its modest character makes it a salutary antidote to the grandiloquence of tourism: here, there's no light and sound or flashy museography, just the raw pleasure of an authentic building that has stood the test of time.
Architecture
The Hôtel du Pélican is a faithful illustration of the style of early 18th-century bourgeois residences and hotels in Saint-Malo: architecture in local granite, sober to the point of austerity, where the regularity of the openings and the robustness of the materials take precedence over any decorative effects. The facade rises three storeys above a slightly raised ground floor, accessed via a base with three carved granite steps - a characteristic feature of buildings in the Saint Malo area, which protects the building from run-off and the dampness of the bay. The small-paned windows, preserved in their original state, are one of the most remarkable features of the façade. These multi-divided windows, typical of the first half of the 18th century before the widespread use of large blown-glass panes, give the building a silhouette that is both archaic and charming. Above the semi-circular entrance porch, the date 1714 engraved in granite serves as a cartouche and identity, as was common practice among the Breton merchant bourgeoisie. The interior reveals a functional organisation typical of urban inns of the period: you can still make out the carriage entrance giving access to the inner courtyard and outbuildings, and above all the movable floor with a hoist mechanism - a wrought-iron gallows and a cable lowering system - which enabled barrels to be transported directly to the cellars. This technical device, extremely rare in its state of preservation, is a precious testimony to the logistical practices of the Malouin trade in the Age of Enlightenment.
Related Figures
Armand de la Rouërie — marquis royaliste breton, fondateur de la Conjuration de la Rouërie, dont les émissaires utilisèrent l'hôtel comme relais clandestinHenry — hôtelier du Pélican, arrêté sous la Révolution pour sa participation au réseau de courrier des princes entre Saint-Malo, Jersey et l'AngleterreLouis XIV — roi sous le règne duquel la prospérité commerciale malouine atteint son apogée, contexte direct de la construction de l'édifice en 1714René Duguay-Trouin — corsaire malouin emblématique de l'époque de construction, représentant de la puissance maritime qui rendit possibles ces investissements immobiliersLouis XVI — monarque dont la cause mobilisa les membres de la conjuration hébergée au Pélican
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ancien hôtel du Pélican located?
Ancien hôtel du Pélican is located in Saint-Malo, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Ancien hôtel du Pélican built?
Ancien hôtel du Pélican dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ancien hôtel du Pélican open to visitors?
Ancien hôtel du Pélican is currently closed to visitors.
