The Great Keep of the Castle

The "Great Keep" is a 15th-century tower, restored in the 17th and 18th centuries. Standing 33 meters tall, it has a horseshoe-shaped plan and six interior levels. A walkway on the fourth floor allows visitors to circumnavigate the entire structure, except for its western face towards Place Chateaubriand. A spiral staircase from this level provides access to the watchtowers that form the top of the building, offering magnificent panoramic views of the city, the port, and the sea.

The Museum's collections are displayed in the main galleries on the ground floor and the four upper floors. They are very varied and include portraits, ship models, objets d'art, weapons, marine paintings, etc. The first floor connects to the castle's former chapel, which has retained only the painting from its old altarpiece: The Lamentation of Christ by Jean-Baptiste Santerre (1651-1717). A corridor built into the thickness of a section of the old city wall provides access to the General Tower, which has also housed, since 1988, collections relating to cod fishing off Newfoundland, some pieces of traditional furniture from the Saint-Malo region, a collection of headdresses and paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as a small section dedicated to Commander Jean-Baptiste Charcot (1867-1936).

The first floor of the keep is adorned with an impressive figurehead representing a 17th-century privateer and a tapestry by Gromaire. The second floor is devoted to the 19th century (Chateaubriand, Lamennais, Surcouf), the third to the 17th and 18th centuries (Duguay-Trouin, Maupertuis, La Bourdonnais), and the fourth to the 16th century (Jacques Cartier, Anne of Brittany).