Seine
54006
225983292
2008-07-16T09:22:32Z
124.150.88.60
/* Navigation */
{{otheruses}}
{{Infobox_River | river_name = Seine
| image_name = paris.seine.750pix.jpg
| caption = The Seine viewed from the [[Eiffel Tower]]. The [[Place de la Concorde]] is at top right.
| origin = [[Burgundy]]
| mouth = The [[English Channel]]
| basin_countries = [[France]]
| length = 776 km (482 mi)
| elevation = 471 m (1,545 ft)
| discharge = 500 m³/s (17,660 ft³/s)
| watershed = 78,650 km² (30,367 mi²)
}}
[[Image:Seine drainage basin.png|thumb|right|300px|The Seine, which rises near Dijon in northern France, flows through Paris and into the English Channel.]]
The '''Seine''' ({{pronounced|sɛn}} in [[French language|French]]) is a major [[river]] and commercial waterway within [[Regions of France|the regions]] of [[Île-de-France (region)|Île-de-France]] and [[Haute-Normandie]] in [[France]]. It is also a tourist attraction, with [[Bateau Mouche|excursion boats]] offering sightseeing tours of the ''[[Rive Droite]]'' and ''[[Rive Gauche]]'' within the city of [[Paris]].
There are over three dozen [[bridges over the River Seine]] within Paris and dozens more spanning the river outside of the city. Examples in Paris include the [[Pont Louis-Philippe]] and [[Pont Neuf]], the latter which dates back to 1607. Outside of the city, examples include the [[Pont de Normandie]], one of the longest [[cable-stayed bridge]]s in the world, which links [[Le Havre]] to [[Honfleur]].
== Navigation ==
The Seine is dredged and oceangoing vessels can dock at [[Rouen]], 120 km (75 miles) from the sea. Commercial riverboats can use the river from [[Bar-sur-Seine]], 560 km (350 miles) from its mouth. At Paris, the river is only 24 metres (80 feet) above sea level, 445 km (277 miles) from its mouth, making it slow flowing and thus easily navigable. It is 776 km (486 miles) long and flows into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] from the continent.
The tidal section of the river, from [[Le Havre]] to well beyond Rouen, is followed by a canalized section with four large multiple locks until the mouth of the [[Oise]] river at [[Conflans-Sainte-Honorine]]. Then two more multiple locks at [[Bougival]] / [[Chatou]] and at [[Suresnes]] lift the vessels to the level of the river in Paris, where the mouth of the [[Marne River]] is located. Upstream from Paris seven more locks ensure navigation to [[Saint Mammès]] (where the [[Loing]] mouth is situated). Through an eighth lock the river [[Yonne]] is reached at [[Monterau]]. From the mouth of the Yonne, larger ships can continue upstream the Seine till [[Nogent-sur-Seine]]. From there on, the river is only navigable for small craft. All navigation ends abruptly at [[Marcilly-sur-Seine]], where the ancient [[Canal de la Haute Seine]] used to allow vessels to continue all the way to [[Troyes]]. This canal has been abandoned for many years now.<ref>[http://www.noordersoft.com/indexen.html NoorderSoft Waterways Database]</ref>
The average depth of the Seine today at Paris is about eight meters.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Until locks were installed to artificially raise the level in the 1800s, however, the river was much shallower within the city most of the time, and consisted only of a small channel of continuous flow bordered by sandy banks (depicted in many illustrations of the period). Today depth is tightly controlled and the entire width of the river between the built-up banks on either side is normally filled with water. The average flow of the river is very low, only a few cubic metres per second{{Fact|date=March 2008}}, but much higher flows are possible during periods of heavy runoff. Special reservoirs upstream help to maintain a constant level for the river through the city, but during periods of extreme runoff significant increases in river level may or may not occur.
A very severe period of high water in January [[1910]] produced [[1910 Great Flood of Paris|extensive flooding throughout the city]]. The Seine again rose to threatening levels in 1924, 1955, 1982 and 1999-2000.<ref>[http://www.grid.unep.ch/product/publication/freshwater_europe/seine.php Seine River Basin], [[United Nations Environment Programme]] Department of Early Warning and Assessment (accessed [[5 June]] [[2007]]</ref> After a first-level flood alert in 2003, about 100,000 works of art were moved out of Paris, the largest relocation of art since World War II. Much of the art in Paris is kept in underground storage rooms that would be flooded.<ref name=nyt2003>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E5DF163DF93AA25751C0A9659C8B63&sec=travel "Fearing a Big Flood, Paris Moves Art"] by Alan Riding, ''[[The New York Times]]'', [[February 19]], [[2003]]</ref> A 2002 report by the French government stated the worst-case Seine flood scenario would cost 10 billion [[Euro]]s, cut telephone service for a million Parisians, leave 200,000 without electricity and 100,000 without gas.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1782691.stm "Paris flood warning"] by Rory Mulholland, ''[[BBC News]]'', [[25 January]] [[2002]]</ref>
[[Image:seine wide crop.jpg|thumb|550px|center|Panoramic view of the Seine in [[Paris]] with St-Michel bridge on the left and [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame]] cathedral to the right]]
==Water quality==
Periodically the sewerage systems of Paris experience a failure known as [[sanitary sewer overflow]], often in periods of high [[rainfall]]. Under these conditions untreated [[sewage]] has been discharged into the Seine<ref>Martin Seidl, ''The fate of [[Organic material|organic]] matter in river Seine after a combined sewer overflow'', ENPC - University Paris Val de Marne Paris XII (France), 1997, 181 pp.</ref>. The resulting [[oxygen]] deficit is principally caused by [[allochthonous]] [[bacteria]] larger than one micrometer in size. The specific activity of these sewage bacteria is typically three to four times greater than that of the autochthonous (background) bacterial [[population]]. The pH level of the Seine at [[Pont Neuf]] has been measured to be 8.46<ref>Hogan, C Michael, Water quality of fresh water bodies in France, Lumina Press, Aberdeen 2006</ref>
==History==
{{Expand-section|more details about the river's history|date=June 2008}}
Legend has it that after [[Joan of Arc]] was [[execution by burning|burned at the stake]] in [[1431]], her ashes were thrown into the Seine, though counter-claims persist into the present-day.<ref>In February 2006 a team of forensic scientists announced the beginning of a six-month study to assess relics from a museum at [[Chinon]] and reputed to be the remains of Jeanne d'Arc. In an [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7136/full/446593a.html April 4, 2007 article] from ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'', the investigators reported their conclusion that the relics from Chinon came from an Egyptian mummy and a cat.</ref>
According to his will, [[Napoleon]], who died in 1821, wished to be buried on the banks of the Seine, a request that was not granted.
Until the 1930s, a towing system using a chain on the bed of the river existed to facilitate movement of barges upriver.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
The Seine River was one of the original objectives of [[Operation Overlord]] in 1944. The Allies' intention was to reach the Seine by D+90 (ie 90 days after [[D-Day]]). That objective was met. An anticipated assault crossing of the river never materialized as [[Germany|German]] resistance in France crumbled by early September 1944. However, the [[First Canadian Army]] did encounter resistance immediately west of the Seine and fighting occurred in the Forêt de la Londe as Allied [[troops]] attempted to cut off the escape across the river of parts of the German 7th Army in the closing phases of the [[Battle of Normandy]].
Some of the victims of the [[Paris massacre of 1961]] drowned in the Seine after being thrown off from the [[Pont Saint-Michel]] and other locations in Paris.
[[Dredging]] in the 1960s mostly eliminated [[tidal bore]]s on the river, known as ''“le mascaret.”''
In 1991, the banks of the Seine in Paris—the ''[[Rive Gauche]]'' and ''[[Rive Droite]]''—were added to [[UNESCO]]'s [[list of World Heritage Sites in Europe]].<ref>[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/600 Paris, Banks of the Seine], the [[World Heritage Site]] entry from the [[UNESCO]] website</ref>
The river is popular site for suicides and the disposal of bodies of murder victims.<ref name="telegraph">[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/29/wmodel129.xml Supermodel Katoucha Niane found dead] from ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''</ref> In 2007, 55 bodies were retrieved from its waters; in February 2008, the body of supermodel-turned-activist [[Katoucha Niane]] was found there.<ref name="telegraph"/>
===Origin of the name===
{{Unreferencedsection|date=June 2008}}
"Seine" is often believed{{Who|date=June 2008}} to have come from the [[Latin]] ''[[sequana]]'', which itself comes from [[Gaulish]] ([[Celtic language|Celtic]]) ''Sicauna''. The name ''Sicauna'' is made up of Celtic ''sakw'', which means "sacred" and comes from the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root *''sak-'' (which also gave Latin ''sacer'' and ''sanctus'', which in turn gave [[English language|English]] sacred and saint), and from a Celtic (or more probably [[Pre-Indo-European]]) suffix ''[[-onna]]'' which means "source, river", and which can be found in the name of many rivers of western Europe (such as the [[Garonne]] or the [[Dordogne River|Dordogne]]). The name "''Sakw -onna''" ("sacred source", "sacred river"), is also the name of several other western European rivers, such as the [[Saône River]], and possibly also the [[River Shannon]].
Another proposed etymology{{Specify|date=June 2008}} posits that ''Sequana'' is the Latin version of Gaulish ''Isicauna''. ''Is-Icauna'' would be the diminutive of ''Icauna'', which was the Gaulish name of the [[Yonne River]]. The ancient [[Gauls]] considered the Seine to be a tributary of the Yonne, which indeed presents a greater average discharge than the Seine (the river flowing through Paris would be called Yonne if the standard rules of geography were applied). ''Icauna'' comes from the Pre-Indo-European roots ''inka -onna''.
Further downstream in what is now [[Normandy]], the Seine was known as ''Rodo'', or ''Roto'', which is a traditional Celtic name for rivers, and is also the original name of the [[Rhône River]] (see Rhône article for further explanations). This is proved by the name of [[Rouen]], which was ''Rotomagos'' in Gaulish, meaning "field, plain (''[[magos]]'' in Gaulish, whose meaning evolved into "market") of the Roto".
==Painters==
{{Disputed-list|List of painters unreferenced|date=June 2008}}
[[Image:Carl Fredrik Hill 002.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Carl Fredrik Hill]], ''Seine-Landschaft bei Bois-Le-Roi (Seine Landscape in Bois-Le-Roi)'' (1877)]]
[[Image:Georges Seurat - Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte.jpg|thumb|250px|George Seurat's ''[[Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte]]'' (1884-1886) is set on an island in the Seine.]]
During the 19th and the 20th centuries, the Seine has inspired many painters including:
<!-- alphabetic by surname -->
<!-- when those without refs are few enough, they can be individually marked by {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Frédéric Bazille]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Maurice Boitel]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Richard Parkes Bonington]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Eugène Boudin]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Camille Corot]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Charles-François Daubigny]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Raoul Dufy]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Othon Friesz]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Carl Fredrik Hill]]
*[[Eugène Isabey]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Johan Barthold Jongkind]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Raimond Lecourt]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Albert Marquet]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Claude Monet]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Luis F. Pinzón]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Camille Pissarro]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Emilio Grau Sala]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Gaston Sébire]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Georges-Pierre Seurat]]
*[[Constant Troyon]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Joseph Mallord William Turner]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Félix Vallotton]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
*[[Édouard Vuillard]] <!-- {{list_fact}} -->
==In arts and popular culture==
*In [[Victor Hugo]]'s novel ''[[Les Misérables]]'', Jean Valjean escapes from the sewers on the banks of the Seine. Waiting there is Inspector Javert, who regretfully allows him to escape. Javert, contemplating what he had just done, decides to throw himself to his death in the river.
*According to legend, the [[death mask]] of a [[L'Inconnue de la Seine|young woman's]] body pulled from the Seine has inspired several 20th century artists, including [[Vladimir Nabokov]] and [[Rainer Maria Rilke]].
*[[David Lanz]] wrote a piano solo piece entitled ''Leaves on the Seine'' in his album, ''Nightfall''.
*''[[Down In The Seine]]'' is a song from [[The Style Council|The Style Council's]] album ''[[Our Favourite Shop]]''
*''This river appears in [[Call of Duty 3]] as a multiplayer map, named Seine river.
== References ==
<references/>
{{commons|Seine|Seine}}
==See also==
* [[Seine (département)]], abolished in 1968
[[Category:River Seine| ]]
[[Category:Seine basin|*]]
[[Category:Aube]]
[[Category:Côte-d'Or]]
[[Category:Eure]]
[[Category:Geography of Hauts-de-Seine]]
[[Category:Geography of Paris]]
[[Category:Water transport in France]]
[[Category:Seine-et-Marne]]
[[Category:Seine-Maritime]]
[[Category:Val-de-Marne]]
[[Category:Yvelines]]
<!--interwiki-->
[[ar:السين]]
[[be-x-old:Сена]]
[[br:Saena]]
[[bg:Сена]]
[[ca:Sena]]
[[cs:Seina]]
[[cy:Afon Seine]]
[[da:Seinen]]
[[de:Seine]]
[[et:Seine]]
[[el:Σηκουάνας]]
[[es:Sena]]
[[eo:Sejno]]
[[eu:Sena]]
[[fa:رود سن]]
[[fr:Seine]]
[[gl:Río Sena]]
[[ko:센 강]]
[[hr:Seine]]
[[id:Sungai Seine]]
[[it:Senna]]
[[he:סן]]
[[ka:სენა (მდინარე)]]
[[ku:Çemê Seine]]
[[la:Sequana]]
[[lb:Seine (Floss)]]
[[lt:Sena]]
[[hu:Szajna]]
[[nl:Seine]]
[[ja:セーヌ川]]
[[no:Seinen]]
[[nn:Seinen]]
[[oc:Sèina]]
[[pl:Sekwana]]
[[pt:Rio Sena]]
[[ro:Sena (râu)]]
[[ru:Сена (река)]]
[[simple:Seine]]
[[sk:Seina]]
[[sl:Sena]]
[[sr:Сена]]
[[fi:Seine]]
[[sv:Seine]]
[[th:แม่น้ำแซน]]
[[vi:Sông Seine]]
[[tr:Sen Nehri]]
[[uk:Сена]]
[[ur:دریائے سین]]
[[zh:塞纳河]]