Rennes's history goes back more than 2,000 years to a time when it was a small Gallic village named Condate. Together withVannes andNantes, it was one of the major cities of the ancientDuchy of Brittany. From the early sixteenth century until theFrench Revolution, Rennes was a parliamentary, administrative and garrison city of the historic province ofBrittany in theKingdom of France, as evidenced by its 17th-centuryParliament's Palace. Rennes played an important role in the Stamped Paper Revolt (Revolt of the papier timbré) in 1675. After the destructive fire of 1720, the medieval wooden center of the city was partially rebuilt in stone. Remaining mostlyrural until theSecond World War, Rennes underwent significant development in the twentieth century.
Since the 1950s, Rennes has grown in importance throughrural flight and modern industrial development, partly in the automotive sector. The city developed extensive building plans to accommodate upwards of 200,000 inhabitants. During the 1980s, Rennes became one of the main centres intelecommunications and high-tech industry. It is now a significantdigital innovation centre in France. In 2002, Rennes became the smallest city in the world to have aMetro line.
Labeled a city of art and history, it has preserved an importantmedieval andclassical heritage within its historic center, with over 90 buildings protected as historic monuments.[4] Home to more than66,000 students in 2016, it is also the eighth-largest university campus of France.[5] In 2018,L'Express named Rennes as "the most liveable city in France".[6]
The ancient centre of the town is built on a hill, with the north side being more elevated than the south side. It is at the confluence of two rivers: theIlle and theVilaine.
Rennes has the distinction of having a significantGreen Belt around its ring road. This Green Belt is a protected area between the city proper (rather dense) and the rest of its urban area (rather rural).
Rennes features anoceanic climate. Precipitation in Rennes is considerably less abundant than in the western parts of Brittany, reaching only half of the levels of, e.g., the city ofQuimper, which makes rainfall in Rennes comparable to the levels of large parts of western Germany. Sunshine hours range between 1,700 and 1,850 annually, which is about the amount of sunshine received by the city ofLausanne.
Climate data for Rennes (RNS), elevation: 36 m (118 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1945–present
In 2018, the inner population of the city was 221,272. The Rennes intercommunal structure connecting Rennes with 42 nearby suburbs (namedRennes Métropole) had 450,593 inhabitants and themetropolitan area had a population of nearly 750,000.
The historic centre is located on the former plan of the ramparts. There is a difference between the northern city centre and the southern city centre due to the 1720 fire, which destroyed most of the timber-framed houses in the northern part of the city. The rebuilding was done in stone, on a grid plan. The poorer southern part was not rebuilt.
Due to the presence of theparlement de Bretagne, many "hôtels particuliers" were built in the northern part, the richer half of Rennes in the 18th century. Most of the city'smonuments historiques can be found there.
Colourful traditionalhalf-timbered houses are situated primarily along the roads of 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.
TheParlement de Bretagne (Administrative and judicial centre of Brittany,Breton:Breujoù Breizh) is the most famous 17th century building in Rennes. It was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994 that may have been caused by a flare fired by a protester during a demonstration. It houses the RennesCourt of Appeal. The surrounding plaza is built in theclassical style.
In the west, the Place de la Mairie (City Hall Plaza, Plasenn Ti Kêr):
City Hall
Opera
In the east, at the end of theRue Saint-Georges with traditionalhalf-timbered houses:
The Place des Lices is lined byhôtels particuliers. Along with the Place Rallier-du-Baty, it is the location of the weekly big market, the marché des Lices.
Near theRennes Cathedral (cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Rennes) is the Rue du Chapitre:
In the south-west of the area,La Rue Saint-Michel nicknamedRue de La Soif (Road of Thirst), is known for its many bars. Meanwhile, in the south-east, the Place du Champ-Jacquet features Renaissance buildings and a statue of mayor Jean Leperdit ripping up aconscription list.
The Fine Arts Museum is situated on Quai Émile Zola, by theVilaine River.
Les Champs Libres is a building on Esplanade Charles de Gaulle, and was designed by the architectChristian de Portzamparc. It houses theBrittany Museum (Musée de Bretagne), the regional library Bibliothèque de Rennes Métropole with six floors, and the Espace des Sciences science centre with a planetarium.
At Place Honoré Commeurec is Les Halles Centrales, a covered market from 1922, with one part converted into contemporary art gallery.
The Mercure Hotel is located in a restored building on Rue du Pré-Botté, which is the former office of Ouest-Éclair, and then ofOuest-France, France's leading daily regional newspaper.
There are large mills at Rue Duhamel, constructed on each side of the south branch of the Vilaine in 1895 and 1902.
To the northwest of Rennes, near Rue de Saint-Malo, are thelocks of theCanal d'Ille-et-Rance, opened in 1843.
Two locations for Oberthür Printing Works were built by Marthenot between 1870 and 1895 on Rue de Paris in the eastern part of the city. Oberthür Park is the second biggest garden in the city.
The 17th century manor of Haute-Chalais, a granite château, is situated to the south of the city in Blosne Quarter (Bréquigny).
The local economy is based on car manufacturing, telecommunications, the digital sector and agrifood.
The telecommunications firmOrange (ex-France Telecom) is the largest private employer in the metropolitan area of Rennes with a workforce of 4,800 people.PSA Peugeot Citroën is the second largest private employer, with 3,000 employees. PSA opened a manufacturing plant at La Janais inChartres-de-Bretagne in 1961.Technicolor, one of the biggest TV and cinema broadcasting firms in the world, employs over 500 people.
Rennes has the second largest concentration of digital and ICT firms in France after Paris (with well-known companies andstartups likeAtos,Google, Neosoft, Orange S.A.,Thales,Ericsson,Harmonic France,STmicroelectronics,Technicolor R&D,Ubisoft, Regionsjob,Capgemini,OVH,Dassault Systèmes, Delta Dore,Canon, Artefacto, Enensys Technologies, Exfo,Mitsubishi Electric R&D Europe, Digitaleo,Kelbillet,Klaxoon,Sopra Group, Niji, andAirbus Cybersecurity). Rennes was one of the first French cities to receiveFrench Tech accreditation, in November 2014. Moreover, Rennes has the third highest public research potential in the digital and ICT sectors in France, after Paris and Grenoble, with 3,000 people working in 10 laboratories, including the well-known IRISA, IETR, IRMAR, DGA-MI (cyberdefense), and SATIE. It also has the third highest innovation potential in the French agrifood industry, with many firms in this field (Lactalis, Triballat Sojasun, Coralis, Panavi,Bridor, Groupe Avril, Loïc Raison, Groupe Roullier, Sanders, etc.), an agro campus (Agrocampus Ouest) and a large international and professional expo, SPACE (held every September).
A festival by night at Thabor ParkCultural plaza with cinema, Brittany museum, library, science space, planetarium, youth house, shopping centres or concert and exhibition hallsBrittany FRAC (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art)
Rennes is known as one of the most festive cities in France. It invests heavily in arts and culture and a number of its festivals such as the music festivalLesTransmusicales,Les Tombées de la Nuit,Mythos, Stunfest (fighting game competition) andTravelling (a film festival) are well known throughout the country. During the 1980s, Rennes was often cited as a hub of rock and new wave music in France.[16]
Les Champs Libres is the largest cultural institution in Brittany. They welcome more than a million visitors each year. Organized in a six-story pyramid with views over the city, the library offers 120,000 documents for loan, and there we can find as well theMuseum of Brittany, Espace des Sciences[17] and Planetarium.[18]
Museum of Farming and Rennes Countryside at Bintinais, south of Rennes.
Musée des Transmissions (Museum of Broadcasting) atCesson-Sévigné, east of Rennes city centre.
FRAC Bretagne Fond Régional d'Art contemporain (Regional Fund for Contemporary Art).
In addition, there are art facilities such as40mcube exhibition space or the centre for contemporary artLa Criée.
There are also miscellaneous cultural venues, including the dance-dedicatedTriange and two "Art et Essai" (arthouse) cinemas,l'Arvor andCine TNB. Surrounding cities house many other cultural sites.
Rennes was one of the first cities in France to have its own local television channel, 'TV Rennes', created in 1987.
Rennes has also local radio stations (Hit West, Radio Campus, Canal B, Radio Caroline, Radio Rennes, Radio Laser) and local newspapers and magazines (Ouest-France, Le Mensuel de Rennes, Place Publique, 20 Minutes Rennes).
In Brittany, two regional languages are spoken:Breton andGallo. In Rennes, as part ofUpper Brittany, Gallo was predominantly spoken as the local language, although Breton has always been spoken by migrants from the west of the region (Lower Brittany).
Nowadays, theBreton language is taught in twoDiwan schools,[19] some bilingual public and Catholic schools, in evening courses, and in university.[20]
The municipality launched a linguistic plan throughYa d'ar brezhoneg on 24 January 2008.
In 2008, 2.87% of primary school children were enrolled in bilingual primary schools, and the number of pupils enrolled in these schools is steadily growing.[21]
Many other Breton specialties (seafood, milk, vegetables, cheese, meat) are seen at the Marché des Lices, a weekly market held every Saturday morning (one of the largest markets in France).
The Rennes agglomeration has a large student population (around 63,000).
The city has two main universities;Université de Rennes, which offers courses in science, technology, medicine, philosophy, law, management, and economics, andUniversité Rennes 2, which has courses in the arts, literature, languages, communication, human and social sciences, and sport. The official website of Université Rennes 2 identifies the facility as "the largest research and higher learning institution in Arts, Literature, Languages, Social Sciences and Humanities in the West of France."
The computer science and applied mathematics research institute,IRISA, is located on the campus of the Université des Sciences, near Cesson-Sévigné. TheDélégation Générale pour l'Armement (defence procurement agency) operates the CELAR research centre, dedicated to electronics and computing, in the neighbouring town of Bruz.
The city is also home to an American study abroad program for high school students,School Year Abroad, in which students are immersed in French culture through five classes in the language and a nine-month home stay.[22]
TheÉcole Compleméntaire Japonaise de Rennes (レンヌ補習授業校Rennu Hoshū Jugyō Kō), apart-time Japanese supplementary school, is based in theCollège Anne de Bretagne in Rennes.[23]
Rennes is home to Stade Rennais Rugby, a women's rugby team who play inChampionnat de France de rugby à XV féminin, the top national club competition for women's rugby union in France. Rennes is also home toREC Rugby, a men's team competing inFédérale 1, the fourth tier of the Men's Rugby Union championship.
Local transport is based primarily on an extensive bus network (65 lines) and alight metro line that was inaugurated in March 2002 and cost €500 million to build. The driverlessRennes Metro (VAL) is 9.4 km (5.8 mi) in length and has 15 stations, including one designed by architectNorman Foster (La Poterie station). A second light metro line known as Line B was opened on 20 September 2022, after 8 years of construction.[24][25]
Rennes provides another mode of local transport: a bike sharing system with 900 bicycles (namedSTAR, le vélo [fr]). Rennes created the first system of modern French bike sharing in 1998.
The city is an important hub of Brittany's motorway network and is surrounded by a ring road, the Rocade (national road 136). The construction of the bypass was started in 1968 and completed in 1999. It is 31 km (19.3 mi) long, has 2 lanes each way (sometimes 3 lanes) and is toll-free. Many other expressways are connected to the Rennes ring road for local and regional service. By road,Saint-Malo can be reached in 45 minutes,Nantes in 1 hour,Brest in 2 hours and 30 minutes,Paris in 4 hours,Bordeaux in 5 hours, andBrussels in 6 hours and 30 minutes.
Rennes has a major French railway station, theGare de Rennes, opened in 1857. Since 2 July 2017, it is now one hour and twenty-seven minutes byTGV high-speed train from Paris (after the extension of theHigh Speed Rail Line[26]). Train services are available to other major cities in France such asLyon,Marseille,Lille, andStrasbourg.
^"Rennes-St Jacques (35)"(PDF).Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1991–2020 et records (in French). Meteo France. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 31 May 2022. Retrieved14 July 2022.
^"Rennes et ses villes jumelées".mir-rennes.fr (in French). Maison Internationale de Rennes (Internet Archive). Archived fromthe original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved15 November 2023.
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