{{Short description|Street in Paris, France}} {{AI-generated|date=October 2025}} thumb|The Rue de Rennes The '''Rue de Rennes''' ({{IPA|fr|ʁy d(ə) ʁɛn}}; {{literal translation}} 'Street of Rennes') is a thoroughfare in the 6th arrondissement of Paris. It is a major shopping street on the left bank of the capital.
== Location and access == The Rue de Rennes begins at the Place du Québec and ends at Place du 18-Juin-1940 (formerly Place de Rennes). It is a straight north{{endash}}south street, over one kilometre long and twenty metres wide. Opened in the mid-nineteenth century, it is a recent thoroughfare in terms of Paris history: its buildings, of fairly homogeneous scale, are all post-1850.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Rue de Rennes: The Ultimate Parisian Shopping Street Guide |url=https://www.paristopten.com/rue-de-rennes/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=Paris top ten}}</ref>
The Rue de Rennes is served by Line 4 of the Paris Métro at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Sulpice and Saint-Placide stations, Line 12 at Rennes station and Lines 4, 6, 12 and 13 at Montparnasse–Bienvenüe station.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Station de Métro Rennes |url=https://www.bonjour-ratp.fr/stations-metro/rennes/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=Bonjour RATP}}</ref>
== Name origin == The street is named after the city of Rennes, because in 1853, the street ended at the "Gare de Rennes", today the Gare de Paris-Montparnasse, from which lines serving Brittany depart.<ref name=":0" />
== History == [[File:Charles Marville, Rue de Rennes, ca. 1853–70.jpg|thumb|Rue de Rennes {{circa}} 1853{{endash}}70 (photograph attributed to Charles Marville), from Boulevard Raspail, towards the station.]] Rue de Rennes was built during the Second Empire. It was originally intended to join the Seine. For this reason, the numbering begins at 41, the previous numbers having been reserved for the part of the street that was to be cut north of Boulevard Saint-Germain. The existing section was excavated twice.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Estienne |first=Nicolas |date=2015 |title=Dictionnaire amoureux de Paris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_KUCgAAQBAJ |journal=Plon |volume=716 |issue=1 |pages=341|isbn=978-2-259-24866-2 }}</ref>
thumb|The Grand Bazar on the Rue de Rennes, 1907. It was opened by decree on 9 March 1853, from Rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs and Rue de Vaugirard to Place du 18-Juin-1940. The plan appended to this decree gave the road a width of just 20 meters. However, it was opened up, following different alignments, to a width of 22 m, as shown on the plan appended to the decree of 25 July 1855, setting its level between the Rue de Vaugirard and Place du 18-Juin-1940.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PARKS AND GARDENS: PARISIAN STROLLS OF THE SECOND EMPIRE |url=https://www.napoleon.org/en/magazine/itineraries/parks-and-gardens-parisian-strolls-of-the-second-empire/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |website=Napoleon}}</ref>
The second section, from Boulevard Saint-Germain to the Rue de Vaugirard and Rue du Regard, follows the decree of 28 July 1866. The construction of this thoroughfare led to the disappearance of several streets:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Janson |title=Percement de la rue de Rennes entre Saint-Germain-des-Prés et la rue du Vieux-Colombier |date=1867 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b53085613f/f1.item |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Alphand |first=Adolphe |title=Ville de Paris : Recueil des lettres patentes, ordonnances royales, décrets et arrêtés préfectoraux concernant les voies publiques |trans-title=City of Paris: Compendium of letters patent, royal ordinances, decrees and prefectoral orders concerning public roads |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k54064199/f371.image |journal=Imprimerie Nouvelle |language=fr}}</ref>
* Rue Beurrière, * Rue-neuve Guillemin, * {{Interlanguage link|Rue de l'Égout|lt=Rue de l'Égout|fr|Rue de l'Égout}}, * {{Interlanguage link|Carrefour Saint-Benoît|lt=Carrefour Saint-Benoît|fr|Carrefour Saint-Benoît}}.
The third section was never built; the route finally chosen involved the destruction of the Institut de France.<ref>{{Cite web |title=La rue de Rennes, un siècle d'hésitations |trans-title=Rue de Rennes, a century of hesitation |url=https://www.ruederennes.com/Histoire_de_la_Rue_de_Rennes.html |website=www.ruederennes.com |language=fr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=On l'a échappé belle ! |trans-title=That was a close one! |url=https://www.ruevisconti.com/Histoire/EchappeBelle/EchappeBelle.html |website=www.ruevisconti.com |language=fr}}</ref>
In 1880, the point where the Rue de Rennes meets the Boulevard du Montparnasse was renamed "Place de Rennes" (now Place du 18-Juin-1940). In 1977, the area in contact with {{Interlanguage link|Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés|lt=Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés|fr|Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés}} became part of the latter.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |title=Carte et liste officielles des obus lancés par le canon monstre et numérotés suivant leur ordre et leur date de chute |trans-title=Official map and list of shells fired by the monster cannon, numbered according to their order and date of fall. |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k4605797h/f6.item.zoom |journal=Excelsior |date=9 January 1919 |language=fr}}</ref>
On 30 March 1918, during the First World War, a shell fired by Big Bertha exploded at the corner of the Rue de Rennes and Boulevard Raspail. The following day, another shell exploded at no. 106.<ref name=":1" />
The Rue de Rennes is often referred to as the Rue de Rennes bombing, which took place in front of the ''Tati'' store on 17 September 1986. It was the latest and deadliest (7 dead and around 60 injured) in a series that began on 4 September (11 dead in all). Carried out in broad daylight, it was claimed by CSPPAC, a false name concealing Hezbollah acting on behalf of Iran, which demanded the release of Lebanese leader Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. The leader of the terrorist commando responsible for the attacks, Fouad Ali Salah, was arrested in March 1987. A plaque inaugurated by President François Mitterrand honours the memory of the victims.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Auboin |first1=Michel |title=La Police. Histoire et dictionnaire |last2=Teyssier |first2=Arnaud |last3=Tulard |first3=Jean |publisher=Éditions Robert Laffont |year=2005 |isbn=2221085736 |series=Bouquins |pages=1059 |language=fr}}</ref>
The Rue de Rennes was redeveloped in the early 2010s. The first stage, involving the southern section between Place du 18-Juin-1940 and Boulevard Raspail, was launched in May 2011 and completed on 30 June 2012, with the widening of sidewalks, the creation of bicycle lanes and delivery spaces.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012 |title=Rue de Rennes, les piétons au pouvoir |trans-title=Rue de Rennes, pedestrians in power |url=https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/rue-de-rennes-les-pietons-au-pouvoir-30-05-2012-2023475.php |work=Le Parisien |language=fr}}</ref> To make these improvements possible, the bus lanes have been removed, although four bus lines, including two Mobilien lines, run on them.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ramnoux |first=Sébastien |date=2011 |title=Un premier couloir de bus disparaît |trans-title=First bus lane disappears |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/un-premier-couloir-de-bus-disparait-24-03-2011-1373854.php |website=Le Parisien |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110326043453/http://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/un-premier-couloir-de-bus-disparait-24-03-2011-1373854.php |archive-date=26 March 2011 |language=fr}}</ref><gallery class="center"> File:Paris 06 - 72 rue de Rennes.jpg|Late Haussmann building at no. 72. File:P1330656 Paris VI rue de Rennes rwk.jpg|No. 120: building towards the middle of the street. File:P1330655 Paris VI rue de Rennes rwk.jpg|The southern end of the street; in the background, the Montparnasse Tower and Paris-Montparnasse station. </gallery>
== Remarkable buildings and places of memory ==
* François Hollande and Ségolène Royal lived at an unknown number in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raffy |first=Serge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKYocIRlWzsC&dq=Fran%C3%A7ois+Hollande+rue+de+Rennes&pg=PT51 |title=François Hollande |date=7 September 2011 |publisher=Fayard |isbn=978-2-213-66799-7 |language=fr}}</ref> * No. 44: on March 22, 1895, the Lumière brothers gave their first public film screening here, before the Société d'encouragement pour l'industrie nationale.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=22 mars 1895 : première projection publique des frères Lumière |trans-title=March 22, 1895: first public screening by the Lumière brothers |url=https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/les-oubliettes-du-temps/22-mars-1895-premiere-projection-publique-des-freres-lumiere-1586653 |website=France inter |language=fr}}</ref> * No. 46: painter Charles Wislin (1852–1932) lived here. * No. 50: above the doorway is a bas-relief depicting Saint Marguerite's dragon, created in 1732 by Paul-Ambroise Slodtz. It originally stood above a gateway leading to an inner courtyard, the Cour du Dragon. The courtyard was demolished in the mid-20th century, and the portal, although listed as a historic monument, was demolished in 1935 to make way for a concrete building. The fresco on display today is a copy, the original being in the Louvre Museum. * No. 54: Charles Pigeon died here. <gallery class="center"> File:Cour du Dragon - Vue sur cour - Paris 06 - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - APMH00037578.jpg|View of the entrance to the Cour du Dragon. File:Paul-Ambroise Slodtz - Dragon.jpg|Au Dragon sign by Paul-Ambroise Slodtz (Louvre). File:P1240308 Paris VI rue de Rennes cour du Dragon rwk.jpg|Copy of Le Dragon bas-relief at no. 50. </gallery>
* No 62: Gaston Prost (1881–1967), painter and lithographer, lived here. * No 64: during the siege of Paris, Bourg-la-Reine's town council met here from September 1870 to March 14, 1871, first in the former building No 43, boulevard Saint-Germain (the present building dates from 1890), then here, with Jean Alphonse Gosse as mayor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lenormand |first=Xavier |title=Bour g-la-Reine, Histoire des Rues |publisher=PAO Imprimerie Nouvelle Orléans |year=1994 |isbn=2-9509068-0-X |pages=46 |language=fr |trans-title=Bour g-la-Reine, Street History |issue=24932}}</ref> * No 71: in 1919, Simone de Beauvoir, who was still a child and had been living until then in the beautiful apartment where she was born in 1908, at 103, boulevard du Montparnasse,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Paris de Sartre et de Beauvoir |trans-title=The Paris of Sartre and Beauvoir |url=https://www.pariszigzag.fr/paris-au-quotidien/le-paris-de-sartre-et-beauvoir |website=Paris ZigZag / Insolite & Secret |date=6 April 2018 |language=fr}}</ref> her family having suffered reverses of fortune, moved to this new address, to a less plush apartment on the sixth floor, with no elevator or running water; she lived there until 1929.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Simone de BEAUVOIR à Paris, Marseille, Rouen et ailleurs |trans-title=Simone de BEAUVOIR in Paris, Marseille, Rouen and elsewhere |url=https://www.terresdecrivains.com/Simone-de-BEAUVOIR-a-Paris |website=Terres d'écrivains |language=fr}}</ref> * No. 76: L'Arlequin cinema. * From 1948 to 1956, part of the building's basement housed the cabaret-theater ''La Rose Rouge'' (150 seats), directed by Nikos Papatakis (1918–2010), who had co-founded it when it opened in 1947 in a restaurant of the same name at 53, rue de la Harpe. The fiction film La Rose rouge (1951) by Marcel Pagliero (1907–1980) captures the ambience of the place.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schlesser |first=Gilles |title=Le Cabaret « rive gauche » : De la Rose rouge au Bateau ivre (1946-1974) |publisher=Éditions de l'Archipel |year=2006 |isbn=978-2-84187-849-9 |pages=682 |language=fr |trans-title=Left Bank Cabaret: From the Rose Rouge to the Bateau ivre (1946-1974)}}</ref> * No. 112: former Crédit municipal de Paris building. Since 1983, the André-Malraux library.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Centre André Malraux |trans-title= |url=https://www.sh6e.com/activites/histoire-du-6eme/les-lieux-edifices-et-monuments/centre-andre-malraux |website=Societe historique du VI arrondissement |language=fr}}</ref> * No. 129: architect Theodor Josef Hubert Hoffbauer (1829–1922) lived here in 1868. * Nos. 136-138: former Grand bazar building on rue de Rennes, inaugurated on September 29, 1906, by architect Henri Gutton (who made his mark in Nancy with the Art Nouveau movement). The building's metal beams come from the workshops of engineer Armand Moisant. In 1910, it became the ''Grands Magasins de la rue de Rennes'', which in the 1920s became the property of Magasins Réunis. Around 1960, the latter placed a new, more plain facade on the original one. The original building was demolished and rebuilt. In 1974, the building became a Fnac store, the first Fnac store in Montparnasse to sell books.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Grand Bazar de la rue de Rennes - Paris 6e |url=https://paris1900.lartnouveau.com/paris00/gds_magasins/grand_bazar_rennes.htm |website=paris199.lartnouveau.com |language=fr}}</ref> <gallery class="center"> File:Bibliothèque André-Malraux, 112 rue de Rennes, Paris 6e.jpg|No. 112: André-Malraux Library. File:Gd Bazar, Rue de Rennes à Paris (2).jpg|Nos. 136-138: Interior of the former Grand Bazaar. File:Immeuble Félix Potin 2.jpg|Nos. 140-140 bis: Former Félix Potin building. </gallery>
* No. 140-140 bis: building of the former Félix Potin store, opened in 1904, designed by architect Paul Auscher, a six-storey food superstore richly decorated in Art Nouveau style, which notably offered a “cuisine service for the city” with its catering department. The building's facade and roof are listed historic monuments. The building was later taken over by Tati. The Rue de Rennes bombing took place here on September 17, 1986. The shopping area is now occupied by Zara.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dumay |first=Jean-Michel |date=2010 |title=Félix Potin réinvente l'épicerie |journal=Le Monde Magazine |language=fr |pages=36–39}}</ref> * No. 153: site of the first church of the Notre-Dame-des-Champs parish, created in 1858 and covering part of this district. The building was made of wood. It has since been replaced by the new Notre-Dame-des-Champs church, built from 1867 to 1876 on the corner of boulevard du Montparnasse and rue du Montparnasse. In 1931, it was reassembled in Fermanville.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hillairet |first=Jacques |title=Dictionnaire historique des rues de Paris. 2: L - Z |publisher=Éd. de Minuit |year=1997 |isbn=978-2-7073-1053-8 |pages=752 |language=fr}}</ref>
== Commemorative plaques == <gallery perrow="3" class="center"> File:Plaque J.-H. Rosny aîné, 47 rue de Rennes, Paris 6.jpg|Writer J.-H. Rosny aîné died at no. 47 in 1940. File:Plaque José Rizal, 124 rue de Rennes, Paris 6e.jpg|Philippine independence activist José Rizal lived at no. 124 in 1883. File:Plaque Robert Fouré, 128 rue de Rennes, Paris 6.jpg|Robert Fouré, military leader of Libération-Nord, who died in deportation, lived at no. 128. File:Plaque Attentat de la rue de Rennes, Paris 6.jpg|Plaque in memory of the rue de Rennes bombing at no. 140 bis. File:Joseph Canteloub plaque - 146 rue de Rennes, Paris 6.jpg|Composer Joseph Canteloube lived at no. 146. File:Hélène Boucher plaque - 169 rue de Rennes, Paris 14.jpg|Aviatrix Hélène Boucher lived at no. 169. </gallery>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Bibliography ==
* {{Cite book |last=Hénard |first=E |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k64888723/f5.image |title=Le prolongement de la rue de Rennes, à Paris, et le projet de pont en X sur la Seine |publisher=Le Génie civil |year=1910 |language=fr}}
Category:6th arrondissement of Paris Category:Arrondissements of Paris Category:Geography of Paris