Rennes

Rennes: half-timbered buildings

Rennes, city, capital of Ille-et-Vilaine département, Brittany région, western France. It is situated at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers.

The city’s name is derived from the Redones, a Celtic tribe that established its capital there. Under Roman occupation the town became the centre of communications of the province of Armorica. In the Middle Ages it vied with Nantes as capital of the dukes of Brittany. The rivalry continued when a Parliament of Brittany was created in 1551; the Parliament finally settled at Rennes 10 years later. During the French Revolution (1787–99), it became the headquarters of the republican army in the fighting with the Vendéens (royalist insurgents). Rennes was bombed and partly destroyed in World War II.

The city was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1720 and was rebuilt from a plan that gave it wide, regular streets and a main axis running east and west along the canalized Vilaine. The few surviving buildings from before the fire, on the northern side of the Vilaine, include the imposing Palais de Justice, which was the House of Parliament of Brittany from 1618 to 1655. Its Grand Chambre, where the Parliament sat, was a magnificent hall with fine decorations, but the building was heavily damaged by fire in 1994. The railway and most of the modern districts are on the south side of the Vilaine.

Rennes’s cathedral, which was completed in 1844, has two towers belonging to an earlier edifice destroyed in the 1720 fire. The 18th-century town hall was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in typical Louis XV style. The Jardin du Thabor, a pleasant park, has a French classical garden, a rose garden, and a botanical garden. The museum, largely destroyed during World War II, has been rebuilt and has a substantial collection of paintings (16th–20th century).

Rennes is the seat of an archbishopric, and the Universities of Rennes I and II have made the city the intellectual centre of Brittany. They are noted specifically for research in the biotechnology and medical fields and are affiliated with the Rennes Atalante Science and Technology Park. Rennes is a major administrative centre and is home to the regional headquarters of many firms and organizations in Brittany and western France. Industrial activity is diversified and includes automotive assembly, food processing, printing, and the manufacture of automotive components and electronics. Pop. (1999) 206,229; (2014 est.) 213,454.