Rennes City Map Poster

About Rennes

The area around Rennes was inhabited by the Gauls and was known as "Condate". The site of Rennes, situated on a strategic crossroads between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, has been occupied since prehistoric times. The Romans held an outpost on a hill in present-day Côte Pavée (the "Paved Slope"), just outside what is now Rennes. In 52 BC, during Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, the town became known as "Augusta" or "Caesaropolis" ("City of Caesar"). Its inhabitants were referred to as ""Romans"" in Latin; with this name appearing again in its formal designation ("Civitas Julia Romana Augusta Condate") under Emperor Augustus. It continued to be mentioned by that name into Medieval times.