Photo : Erwan Corre / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Rennes
Rennes, capital of Brittany and eleventh commune of France by population with about 231,000 inhabitants, was largely destroyed by a fire in 1720. The centre was then rebuilt in stone, granite and tuffeau. Medieval half-timbered houses remain in the districts that were spared, around Place du Champ-Jacquet and Rue Saint-Michel. The Porte Mordelaise is one of the rare remains of the old ramparts.
The Parliament of Brittany, created in the sixteenth century and housed in a palace built in the seventeenth century, allowed the province to keep some autonomy until the Revolution; the building was restored after the fire of 1994. Place des Lices, lined with seventeenth-century mansions, hosts the traditional market every Saturday. With about 73,000 students, Rennes is the second university city in France, which gives its centre a lively atmosphere.
