Upon his death, nobleman Gabriel de Rumine left money to the city of Lausanne to erect a building in his honour, resulting in the beautiful Palais in the Florentine Renaissance style. The famous Treaty of Lausanne was signed in this building, a peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Allied Empires of Britain, Japan, Italy, Romania and the French Republic, making the building significant to Swiss and European history in general, and a great place for history buffs to visit.

Other than a library, the building also contains permanent exhibitions to the fine arts, archaeology and history, geology, zoology and currency of the Canton (state) of Vaud, of which Lausanne is the capital and biggest city. With five whole museums within one palace, there is something for everyone to enjoy in terms of local history, and should be a place visitors to Lausanne visit to find out more about the city.