Rennes

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Administrative centre of Ille-et-Vilaine département, western France, 60 km/37 mi southeast of St Malo at the confluence of the Ille and Vilaine rivers; population (1999) 206,200. The city is an important economic base and is the main commercial centre for western France. It produces chemicals, electronics, cars, railway equipment, agricultural machinery, and food products. There are also printing works and nearby Vern-sur-Seiche has an oil refinery. The city was the capital of the former province of Brittany.

Rennes was the capital of a Celtic tribe, the Redones (from whom the town's name derives). In spite of having been the capital of the old province of Brittany, Rennes is essentially a modern town. Most of its buildings were constructed after a fire broke out in December 1720 and burnt for a week; almost 900 half-timbered houses were reduced to ashes. Following the fire, the king's architect, Jacques Gabriel, was commissioned to work on the city's reconstruction. Construction of the cathedral commenced in 1787. With the canalization of the river Vilaine in 1840, and the coming of the railway in 1857, Rennes began to assume its present form as regional capital. The railway resulted in the city's extension southwards with the construction of a new area that was home to the railway workers. The second trial of Alfred Dreyfus, the French army officer accused of betraying military secrets to Germany, was held in Rennes in 1899. In 1944, during World War II, the town was again severely damaged.

The blue band is lighter than that of the Dutch tricolour. Effective date: 16 August 1972. >>