The Parliament of Brittany is the most important heritage building in the city, one of the strongest symbols of Breton history, the seat of the regional appeal court and the Rennes site that attracts large numbers of tourists every year.

In 1532, the Duchy of Brittany was attached to the kingdom of France. The famous weddings of the Duchesses of Brittany to the kings of France, Anne with Charles VIII and Louis XII and daughter Claude with François I resulted in the treaty of union. There also followed the decision to create a Brittany Parliament in 1554.

The construction of the Palace began in 1615 and ended in 1655 according to plans by the architect Salomon de Brosse who also built the Luxembourg Palace in Paris. A century later, the king's architect Jacques Gabriel imagined a royal place enveloping the statue of the ruling Sun King before the palace. While it lost its political prerogatives to the French Revolution, the Parliament of Brittany has been the seat of the appeal court since 1804.