(, in the east of
Brittany . Rennes is the capital of the
Bretagne ''
Région '', as well as the ''
Préfecture '' of the
Ille-et-Vilaine ''
Département ''.
Population of the city ('') at the 1999 census was 521,188 inhabitants,
Ranking Twelfth In France . Inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais.
The current
Mayor of Rennes is
Edmond Hervé , incumbent since 1977, when he replaced
Henri Fréville . His "mairie" (''mayor's office'') is right in the centre of Rennes.
Rennes is divided into 11
Canton s:
- Le canton de Rennes-Bréquigny (15 397 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Centre (19 017 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Centre-Ouest (21 264 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Centre-Sud (15 774 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Est (20 323 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-le-Blosne (21 151 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Nord (21 845 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Nord-Est (18 224 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Nord-Ouest parts of Rennes and communes of Gévezé , Pacé and Parthenay-de-Bretagne (28 130 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Sud-Est parts of Rennes and communes of Chantepie and Vern-sur-Seiche (33 459 inhabitants)
- Le canton de Rennes-Sud-Ouest parts of Rennes and communes of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande and Vezin-le-Coquet (28 707 inhabitants)
The town is built on a hill, with the north side being more elevated than the south side. It is at the meeting point of two rivers: the
Ille and the
Vilaine .
Rennes is classified as a city of art and history.
- The '' Parlement de Bretagne'' (Parliament of Brittany , Plasenn Breujoù Breizh) is arguably the most famous building in Rennes. It was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994. It houses the Rennes Court Of Appeal .
- Colorful traditional Timber Frame houses are situated primarily along the roads Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Georges, de Saint-Malo, Saint-Guillaume, des Dames, du chapitre, Vasselot, Saint-Michel, de la Psallette and around the plazas of Champ-Jacquet, des Lices, Saint-Anne and Rallier-du-Baty.
- --- Polychromatic wooden busts from the 16th century, in the façade of 20 rue du Chapitre.
- --- Basilica Saint-Sauveur
- Place des Lices and surrounding area
- ---Les Halles Martenot of the 19th century, built between 1868 and 1871 by Jean-Baptiste Martenot , host the Market on Saturday mornings (the third largest market in France).
- ---The Mordelaises Gate (Portes Mordelaises), chatelet with two Towers and a Drawbridge
- ---The remaining fortifications of the 3rd century
- ---The Jehan Duchesne tower of the 15th century, on rue Nantaise
- ---The 15th Century ramparts east of the gallo-romain fortifications, in place Rallier-du-Baty.
- Place Saint-Anne (Plasenn Santez-Anna)
- ---Saint-Aubin Church
- ---Location of a former 14th Century Hospital
- --- Jacobite Convent
- La rue Saint-Michel nicknamed ''rue de la soif'' (''road of thirst'')
- Area from Saint-Mélaine to Place Saint-Mélaine
- ---Notre-Dame en Saint-Mélaine Church,
--tower and transept from the 11th century Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Mélaine
-- 14th Century Gothic arcades
--17th century columnar façade
--bell tower topped with a gilded Virgin Mary (19th century)
--17th century cloister
- ---Magnificent park, The Parc Thabor, (formal French garden, orangerie, rose garden, aviary).
- ---The 17th century promenade "la Motte à Madame", with monumental stair, Near the rue de Paris entrance to the Thabor.
- Rue Saint-Georges and rue Gambetta
- ---1920's Saint George Municipal Pool, with mosaics
- ---Saint George Palace, and its garden
- Place de la Mairie (City Hall Plaza, Plasenn Ti Ker)
- ---City Hall
- ---Opera
- Place du Vau-Saint-Germain
- ---Vau de Saint-Germain Church
- ---Saint-Germain footbridge, 20th century wood and metal construction to link the plaza with Émile Zola Quay.
- Place du Champ-Jacquet
- ---statue of Leperdit ripping up a Conscription list.
- Quai Émile Zola (Émile Zola Quay), next to the Vilaine River.
- ---The Fine Arts Museum
- ---The Museum of Brittany
- rue du Pré-Botté
- ---prior location of Ouest-Éclair, then of Ouest-France , premier daily regional newspaper; resutored and now occupied by the Mercure hotel.
- rue Duhamel
- ---the large mills, constructed on each side of the south branch of the Vilaine in 1895 and 1902.
- Place Henri Commeurec
- ---Les Halles centrales, covered market of 1922 , converted into contemorary art gallery.
- North-west, near the rue de Saint-Malo
- ---the sluices of the canal d'Ille-et-Rance of 1843
- East of the city, rue de Paris
- ---The two halls of the printer Oberthür, built by par Marthenot between 1870 and 1895.
- ---Oberthür Park, the second biggest garden in the city.
- South, Blosne Quarter (Bréquigny)
- ---The manor of the Haute-Chalais (17th century), granite chateau
''Main article:
History Of Rennes ''
Rennes is the capital of the région of
Brittany , in
France . It has a long history due to its location at a confluent of two rivers.
The eastern
Armorican people of Redones founded Condate— an ancient Celtic word meaning confluent— at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers and made it the capital of a territory that extended to the Bay of
Mont Saint Michel . The name of the city of Rédon also reflects that of the Redones. Early in the 1st century BCE, they adopted the greek and Roman practice of issuing coinage
{Link without Title} , adapting the widely-imitated gold staters of
Philip II Of Macedon , in the characteristic Celtic coin metal alloy called billion. Without inscriptions, as the Celtic practice was, the Redones coinage features a carioteer whose pony has a human head. Large hoards of their coins were unearthed in the "treasure of Amanlis" found in June 1835 and that of
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande , discovered in February 1941. The Museum at Rennes contains a large representative collection.
They joined the
Gaulish Coalition against Rome in 57 BCE, which was suppressed by
Crassus . The following year, Roman emissaries were held hostage by the Redones, which obliged
Julius Caesar to intervene in
Armorica and suppress the rebels, and the following year to cross the Channel to discoruage further support of the Redones by the Britons. In 52 the Redones responded to the call of
Vercingetorix to furnish a large contingent of warriors (Caesar, Gallic Wars II.34; VII.75).
In the Roman era, Condate became Condate Riedonum, capital of civitas riedonum
The oldest known rennais is Titus Flavius Postuminus, known to us from his
Stele s found in Rennes in 1968. As indicated by his name, he would have been born under the
Flavian Dynasty , under the reign of
Titus , i.e. between 79 and 81 AD. One of the steles tell us, in Latin, that he took charge over all the public affairs in the Civitas Riedonum. He was twice
Duumvir and
Flamine for life for
Mars Mullo .
During the Roman era, the strategic position of the town contributed to its importance. To the west the principal Roman route, via Osismii stretched from Condate to Vorgium (modern
Carhaix ).
In the year 275, the threat of barbarians led to the erection of a robust brick wall around Rennes. Rennes became known as the "red town".
Once threatened by the danger of bagaudes at the end of the Roman Empire in the 5th century, the Armorican peninsula, including Brittany and therefore Rennes, made up the last of the stronghold of the western Roman Empire. The invincible Armorican Romans held their ground against
Clovis I , who occupied most of Alamans, then the
Visigoths . Melaine, the bishop of Rennes, played an important role in the peace treaty between the Franks and the Armoricans in the year 497. He famously declared "Il faut faire la paix entre chrétiens" ("Peace must be made between Christians").
Starting in the fifth century,
Breton s occupied the western part of the Armorican penensula, which started to be called little Britain, and then
Brittany , while the Franks took the rest of
Armorica . To contain the expansion and avoid Breton incursions, the
Carolingian s instituted a Breton march, composed of the counties of Rennes,
Nantes , and
Vannes .
These marches were entirely absorbed by the Breton Kingdom in the ninth century, and Rennes became Breton in
851 . Rennes would later become the capital of Ducal Brittany.
During the
Breton War Of Succession , in
1356 and
1357 , the city was sieged by the Duke of Lancaster, brother of the English king, but Bertrand du Guesclin slipped into the city and took over the resistance, which would ultimately be victorious. After nearly a year, Lancaster renounced the English siege in 1357.
In
1491 , it was the French army of Charles VIII, led by his general, La Trémoïlle, that uncusessfully attacked Rennes. Brittany having already capitulated elsewhere, Rennes alone still resisted. The defenders of Rennes were determined to resist to the death, but the Dutchess
Anne Of Brittany chose instead to nagotiate. By her marriage to Charles VIII, she made Brittany a part of France. Anne jealously guarded Brittany's autonomy, but the duchy was eventually fully merged with the French crown by her daughter
Claude Of France .
In 1857
Rennes Train Station was built, which gradually led to the southward sprawl of the town. In 1899 the trial for
Alfred Dreyfus' Affair took part in Rennes.
Local industries include car manufacturing and telecommunications.
Citroën , currently the largest employer of the population of Rennes, opened a manufacturing plant at Rennes La Janais in
1961 to manufacture the
Ami .
Rennes is also one of first
Technopole s in France that were established in an effort to stimulate the economies of regions other than
Paris during the
Aménagement Du Territoire .
Rennes invests heavily in arts and culture and a number of its festivals (such as the music festival ''Les
Transmusicales '', ''les Tombées de la Nuit'' and ''Travelling (a cinematic festival)'') are well known throughout France.
Rennes was one of the first towns in France to have its own television channel 'TV Rennes', created in 1987. Rennes is home to
Stade Rennais FC , who play at
Route De Lorient in the
French Premier League .
The Rennes agglomeration has a large student population (around 60,000).
The city has two main universities:
- '' Université De Rennes 1 '' {Link without Title} : science, technology, medicine, philosophy, law, management and economics-based centre
- '' Université De Rennes 2 '' {Link without Title} : the arts, literature, languages, communication, human and social sciences, sport
In addition:
Rennes has well developed national road, rail and air links and is two hours by
TGV from
Paris . Local transport is based primarily on an extensive
Bus network (38 different lines) and a
Metro line that was inaugurated in March
2002 and cost €500 millions to build. The
Rennes Metro is 9.4 km in length and has 15 stations, including one designed by architect
Norman Foster . Rennes is one of the smallest cities in the world to have a metro.
See also:
Gare De Rennes
Rennes is also served by an airport,
Rennes-St. Jacques Airport , located to the south-west in the commune
Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande .
These twinned towns are inscribed on the bridge over the central canal of Rennes:
