Rennes Hotels

City (1990 pop. 203,533), capital of Ille-et-Vilaine dept., NW France, at the junction of the Vilaine and Ille rivers. Rennes's many industrial products include textiles, leather goods, machinery, automobiles, electronic equipment, and petroleum. Rennes was an important Gallo-Roman town. In the 10th cent. it became the capital of the Breton county of Rennes and, in 1196, under the Angevin dukes, of Brittany. Under the ancien régime it was the seat of the provincial Breton estates, the powerful parlement of Rennes, and several courts of justice. The town was ravaged by the Norsemen and in the Hundred Years War and was swept by a fire in 1720. The Univ. of Rennes was founded in 1735. The National School of Public Health is in Rennes. General Boulanger was born in the city.

The Parlement de Bretagne (Parliament of Brittany), the most famous building in Rennes, was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994. It houses the Rennes court of appeal.Rennes (Breton: Roazhon) is a city of northwestern France, 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 (commune) of Rennes at the 1999 census was 206,229 inhabitants (209,100 inhabitants as of February 2004 estimates). Population of the whole metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine) at the 1999 census was 521,188 inhabitants, ranking twelfth in France.

Administration

The current mayor of Rennes is Edmond Hervé, who has been in power since 1977, when he replaced Henri Fréville.

Geography

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 (hence the name of the département Ille-et-Vilaine).

History

See separate article History of Rennes.

Economy

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.

Some medieval houses, such as these ones, can still be found in the center of Rennes.
Culture
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 le Travelling (a cinematic festival)) are well known throughout France. Since February 14 2005, there has been a local television channel called Rennes TV. Rennes is home to Stade Rennais FC, who play in the French Premier League.