River Seine
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- Published on Monday, 25 July 2011 13:21
- Written by Paris Attractions Editor
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The major river of North Western France is the Seine. It is one of the famous commercial waterways and is a great tourist attraction especially within Paris.
In the past, when the Paris tribe first established a fishing village along its banks, the waters in River Seine have always been the heart and soul of the city of Paris. The River Seine is only around 24m above sea level and its average depth is only around 8m in Paris. It makes it slow flowing and easily navigable.
The tidal section of the river from Le Havre goes to well beyond Rouen and ocean-going vessels can also get 120km down from the sea to Rouen where they can simply dock. The river is dredged and there are many commercial riverboats that will be able to use the river for 560km from its mouth.
There is a section beyond Rouen that has 4 large multiple locks until the mouth of the River Oise. There are 2 additional locks and at Suresnes it lifts the vessels to the level of the River Seine in Paris. This is where the River Marne is located.
The levels did fluctuate until the locks were installed in the 1800s which artificially raised the levels of the river. Today, the depth is being tightly controlled and the entire width of the river is normally filled with water.
As Paris had prospered through the extensive trading and expansion to the Left Bank in the days of the Roman Empire, the Seine had also became a great commercial artery which was linked by canals to the River Rhine, River Rhone and River Loire.
Travellers and tourists will be able to notice many splendid bridges that span the River Seine. Some of them are several centuries old and the oldest of all is the Pont-Neuf, whose first stone was laid in 1578 by Henri III in the presence of Catherine de Medicis, Queen mother.