RENNES

city, capital of Ille-et-Vilaine dpartement, Bretagne rgion, western France. It is situated at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers. The town 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 Jacques V 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 (16th20th century). 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, the town became the headquarters of the republican army in the fighting with the Vendens (royalist insurgents). Rennes was bombed and partly destroyed in World War II. Rennes is the seat of an archbishopric, and the Universities of Rennes I and II have made it the intellectual centre of Brittany. The city is an important road and rail junction that connects Brittany with Paris. Traditionally an important market town, Rennes developed industrially after World War II, with plants manufacturing railway equipment, automobiles, agricultural machinery, and chemicals. There is also some food processing and printing and, more recently, electronics. A petroleum refinery is located at nearby Vern-sur-Seiche. Pop. (1990) 203,533.