The first stage of the bell tower contained a statue of Louis XV, which would be destroyed during the French Revolution, flanked by pairs of columns supporting a pediment.

[7] From 1840 to 1855, the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Rennes was based in the north wing, hosting academics such as the chemistry professor Faustino Malaguti.

[9] Emmanuel Le Ray refurbished the building in the early 20th century, creating the Panthéon rennais memorial to the victims of the First World War.

[6] The niche where the statue of Louis XV stood was later occupied by a Jean Boucher sculpture of Anne of Brittany, the last sovereign ruler of the duchy, marrying Charles VIII of France.

On 7 August 1932, during festivities for the 400th anniversary of the Union of Brittany and France, it was destroyed by a bomb laid by Breton nationalists; nothing has since replaced it on the plinth.