As its name indicates, Rue des Vieux-Remparts marks the boundary of the town wall prior to the expansions completed from 1708 to 1744. Thanks to this new layout, the town gained 8 additional hectares (24 hectares).
At No. 9 on this street you can see the remains of the first small monastery that the Order known as the “Recollects” had in the town from 1618 onwards.
The Recollects were monks who strictly observed the teachings of Saint Francis, and who provided missionaries for the Indies and chaplains for the French Army and Navy. They also had a convent on the Île de Cézembre which they abandoned after it was pillaged by the Anglo-Dutch forces in 1693, and moved to Saint-Servan.
In 1643, these monks built a dedicated chapel in the extension to the street and, around 1720, after the old rampart had been demolished, added to their establishment on the other side of the street (No. 8) on a plot of land that formed part of the town’s second expansion project. Their first house was linked to the new buildings by passageways with arches that passed over the streets now called Rue des Vieux-Remparts and Rue Robert-Surcouf.
The arch passing over the Rue des Vieux-Remparts provides a late example of half-timbered construction, in spite of a ban on using these materials since the fire in 1661.
During the French Revolution, the old Recollects convent became the Caserne Saint-François barracks, and, from the early 20th century onwards, was used for various private residences.
No. 6 is an old town-house from the 18th century.
