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The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre (and Honfleur on the left bank). It is navigable by ocean-going vessels as far as Rouen, from the sea. Over 60 percent of its length, as far as Burgundy, is negotiable by large barges and most tour boats, and nearly its whole length is available for recreational boating; Bateaux Mouches offer sightseeing tours of the river banks in the capital city, Paris.
There are 37 bridges in Paris across the Seine (the most famous of which are the Pont Alexandre III and the Pont Neuf) and dozens more outside the city. A notable bridge, which is also the last along the course of the river, is the Pont de Normandie, the ninth longest cable-stayed bridge in the world, which links Le Havre and Honfleur.
Below Rouen, the river passes through the Parc Naturel Régional des Boucles de la Seine Normande, a French regional nature park.
At Paris, there are 37 bridges. The river is only above sea level from its mouth, making it slow flowing and thus easily navigable.
The Seine Maritime, from the English Channel at Le Havre to Rouen, is the only portion of the Seine used by ocean-going craft. Fluviacarte , Seine maritime The tidal section of the Seine Maritime is followed by a canalized section ( Basse Seine) with four large multiple locks until the mouth of the Oise at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (). Smaller locks at Bougival and at Suresnes lift the vessels to the level of the river in Paris, where the junction with the Canal Saint-Martin is located. The distance from the mouth of the Oise is . Fluviacarte , Basse Seine
The Haute Seine, from Paris to Montereau-Fault-Yonne, is long and has 8 locks. Fluviacarte , Haute Seine At Charenton-le-Pont is the mouth of the Marne. Upstream from Paris seven locks ensure navigation to Saint Mammès, where the Loing mouth is situated. Through an eighth lock the river Yonne is reached at Montereau-Fault-Yonne. From the mouth of the Yonne, larger ships can continue upstream to Nogent-sur-Seine (, 7 locks). Fluviacarte , Petite Seine (aval) From there on, the river is navigable only by small craft to Marcilly-sur-Seine (, 4 locks). Fluviacarte , Petite Seine (amont) At Marcilly-sur-Seine the 19th century Canal de la Haute-Seine used to allow vessels to continue all the way to Troyes. This canal has been abandoned since 1957.
The Seine's average depth in Paris today is approximately 9.5 meters (31 feet). Until locks were installed to raise the level in the 1800s, the river was much shallower within the city, and consisted of a small channel of continuous flow bordered by sandy banks (depicted in many illustrations of the period). Today the 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, but much higher flows are possible during periods of heavy runoff.
A 2002 report by the French government stated the worst-case Seine flood scenario would cost 10 billion euros and cut telephone service for a million Parisians, leaving 200,000 without electricity and 100,000 without gas.
At the beginning of the 20th century, most domestic sewage was used as fertilizer for nearby croplands. As populations grew, the agricultural capacity to absorb those wastewaters was exceeded. Large-scale construction of waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) began in 1940 to meet demand; however, by 1970, about 60% of urban sewage was allowed to flow into the river untreated. The resulting oxygen depletion reduced the number of fish species to three. Measures taken in the early 2000s due to the Water Framework Directive led to significant reductions of organic carbon, phosphorus and ammonium, which in turn decreased the occurrence and severity of phytoplankton blooms. Continued WWTP construction and new treatment methods improved environmental conditions. (2025). 9783030542597, Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783030542597 In 2009, it was announced that Atlantic salmon had returned to the Seine. By the early 2020s, the number of fish species near Paris had rebounded to 32.
Periodically the Paris sewers experience a failure known as sanitary sewer overflow, often in periods of high rainfall. Under these conditions, untreated residential and industrial sewage is discharged into the Seine to prevent backflow. This is due in large part to Paris' "single system" drainage scheme dating from the 19th century, which combines street runoff and sewage.Martin Seidl, The fate of Organic material matter in river Seine after a combined sewer overflow, ENPC – University Paris Val de Marne Paris XII (France), 1997, 181 pp. The resulting oxygen deficit is principally caused by allochthonous bacteria larger than one micrometre in size. The specific activity of these sewage bacteria is typically three to four times greater than that of the autochthonous (background) bacterial population. Heavy metal concentrations in the Seine are relatively high.J.F.Chiffoleau. 2007. Metal contamination. the Seine-Aval scientific programme. Quae. 40 pages The pH level of the Seine at Pont Neuf has been measured to be 8.46. Despite this, the water quality has improved significantly over what several historians at various times in the past called an "open sewer".
In 1988, then-mayor of Paris and future president Jacques Chirac first called for the lifting of a swimming ban that had been in place since 1923 due to polluted waters. In 2018, a €1.4 billion ($1.55 billion) cleanup programme called the "Swimming Plan" was launched with the aim of making the river safe to use for the 2024 Summer Olympics. The project included constructing a basin to store rainwater, which would then be slowly released into the sewer system, preventing overflow. Plans also call for several public swimming areas to be made available by 2025, bringing an end to a century-old ban. These efforts have produced mixed results, as Escherichia coli levels have often been found to be far higher than what is safe to swim in, though this could depend on the season. At the same time, the fish population in the river has surged, from just two species to over 30. To demonstrate the river's improved cleanliness, Mayor Anne Hidalgo and President Emmanuel Macron both pledged to take a swim in the waters, and Hidalgo did so on July 17, 2024.
During the Summer Olympics, the date of the triathlon was postponed due to water quality issues, as the earlier rainstorm during the opening ceremony had driven some untreated rainwater back into the Seine. However, the triathlon proceeded the following day, after testing found the water quality to be sufficient for swimming.
In July 2025, the Seine was reopened for swimming after a ban lasting almost 100 years.
On 28 or 29 March 845, an army of Vikings led by a chieftain named Reginherus, which is possibly another name for Ragnar Lothbrok, sailed up the River Seine with siege towers and sacked Paris.
On 25 November 885, another Viking expedition led by Rollo was sent up the River Seine to attack Paris again.
In March 1314, King Philip IV of France had Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, burned on a scaffold on an island in the River Seine in front of Notre Dame de Paris.A History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages Vol. III by Henry Charles Lea, NY: Hamper & Bros, Franklin Sq. 1888, p. 325. Not in copyright.
Following the burning of Joan of Arc in 1431, her ashes were thrown into the Seine from the medieval stone Mathilde Bridge at Rouen, though unsupported counter-claims persist.In February 2006 a team of forensic scientists announced the beginning of a six-month study to assess relics from a museum at Chinon reputed to be the remains of Jeanne d'Arc. In 2007, the investigators reported their conclusion that the relics from Chinon came from an Egyptian mummy and a cat, see
On 9 August 1803, Robert Fulton, American painter and marine engineer, made his first successful test of his steamboat in the Seine beside the Tuileries Garden. Having a length of sixty-six feet and an eight-foot beam Fulton's steamboat attained speeds of three to four miles per hour against the Seine's current.
Reaching the Seine was one of the original objectives of Operation Overlord, during the Second World War, in 1944. The Allies' intention was to reach the Seine by 90 days after D-Day. That objective was met. An anticipated assault crossing of the river never materialized as 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 Algerian victims of the 1961 Paris massacre drowned in the Seine after being thrown by French policemen from the Pont Saint-Michel and other locations in Paris.
The river was also the site of the men's and women's event for marathon swimming, as well as the swimming portion of the triathlon. Although swimming in the Seine had been banned since 1923, a €1.4 billion cleanup effort by the French government sought to reduce bacterial levels in the river to those safe for swimming. During the Olympics, daily tests of the water quality were taken to determine if it was safe for swimming; this caused the triathlon to be delayed by a day, before being allowed to proceed on July 31. A few of the triathletes who swam in the river became sick afterwards, though it was not clear if the Seine water was the cause.
A song "La Seine" by Flavien Monod and Guy Lafarge was written in 1948.
Josephine Baker also recorded a song called "La Seine"
Another song titled "La Seine", by Vanessa Paradis featuring Matthieu Chedid, formed part of the original soundtrack for the 2011 film A Monster in Paris.
The Seine features prominently in ABBA's 1980 song "Our Last Summer", written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.
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