France City  -  Rennes

Population of the whole metropolitan area (French: aire urbaine) at the 1999 census was 521,188 inhabitants, ranking twelfth in France. Inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais.

Brittany's culinary landscape has always delighted even the most discerning of palates. The quality and variety of its produce and the inventiveness of its chefs make it the second gastronomic region in France in terms of the number of chefs
listed in national food guides. Ideas

Make the most of your stay with the Rennes City Pass  On sale fat the Tourist Information Centre, this pass gives you exclusive advantages for exploring the Metropolitan District of Rennes.

Fancy a weekend in Rennes? The Tourist Information Centre has designed a range of cultural, gourmet and sporting breaks.

The Parlement de Bretagne

Local Attractions - places to visit    

Rennes is classified as a city of art and history.

• The Parlement de Bretagne More>>
• Place des Lices and surrounding area More>>
• Place Saint-Anne More>>

Some medieval houses, such as these at Champ-Jacquet, can still be found in the center of Rennes.

• La rue Saint-Michel More>>
• Area from Saint-Mélaine to Place Saint-Mélaine More>>
• The Thabor park More>>

Thabor park's bandstand

• Place de la Mairie More>>
• Place du Vau-Saint-Germain More>>
• Place du Champ-Jacquet More>>

History    

Rennes is the capital of the région of Brittany, in France. It has a long history due to its location at the confluence 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. More>>

Administration    

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 cantons:

• 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)

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.

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.

Rennes is also one of first Technopoles in France that were established in an effort to stimulate the economies of regions other than Paris during the Aménagement du territoire.

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 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.

Transportation     

Rennes has well developed national road, rail and air links and is two hours by TGV from Paris. More>>

Education     

The Rennes agglomeration has a large student population (around 60,000). The city has two main universities. More>>

Credits : This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rennes".