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Origin and history

The Jacobin Convent, also known as the former Convent of Good News, is a religious building founded in the 14th century in Rennes, in the Centre district, north of the historic centre. It includes a church, cloister and convent buildings, as well as a chapel dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle, the object of a medieval pilgrimage. The site, occupied since Gallo-Roman times, was abandoned after the fall of the Roman Empire before being reborn thanks to the order of the Dominicans. The Duke John IV of Brittany laid the first stone in 1367, with the support of a local donor, Pierre Rouxel.

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, the convent became a major burial place, home to nearly a thousand burials, including lead sarcophagus of nobles and Rennes personalities. It was also the scene of historical events, such as the engagement of Anne of Brittany and Charles VIII in 1491. In the seventeenth century, the convent had sixty religious and a library of 5,000 volumes, before declining to the Revolution. Some brothers, such as Felix-Alexis Mainguy, became librarians after the plundering of ecclesiastical property.

At the time of the Revolution, the building was converted into a military barracks (1793), then into a sports club before being classified as a historic monument in 1991. In 2002, Rennes Métropole acquired it for a symbolic euro. After major archaeological excavations (2011–2013) revealing prestigious graves such as Louise de Quengo's, the site became the convention center of Rennes Métropole, inaugurated in 2018. In 2023, it was damaged during demonstrations against pension reform.

The architecture combines a classic cloister with a central garden, a convent church, and spaces such as the refectory or the capitular room. The current congress centre includes a 1,000-seat auditorium, commission rooms and 3,000 m2 of exhibition, partially preserving historical structures such as the Fire Gallery or the Chapel of Good News.

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