The Seille (; german: Selle) is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

in north-eastern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. It is a right tributary of the Moselle. It is also known as the ''Seille lorraine'' or the ''Grande Seille'' ("large Seille"), to distinguish it from another Seille, a small

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name ...

. It originates near

Azoudange Azoudange (; german: Anslingen) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Population See also * Communes of the Moselle department * Parc naturel régional de Lorraine Lorraine Regional Natural Park (Frenc ...

, in the department of Moselle. Leaving the Lindre lake, it skirts the town of

Dieuze Dieuze (; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. People Dieuze was the birthplace of: *Charles Hermite, mathematician * Edmond François Valentin About, novelist, publicist and journalist * Émile Friant, ...

, and traverses

Vic-sur-Seille Vic-sur-Seille (, literally ''Vic on Seille''; ) is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. People It was the birthplace of Georges de La Tour. Art museum The art museum of Vic-sur-Seille, in French ', was cr ...

and

Nomeny Nomeny (), also Nomény (), is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. South of Nomeny, there is a mediumwave broadcasting station, which works on 837 kHz with 300 kW. It uses two guyed masts with differe ...

, before flowing into the Moselle at

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

. It is 138 km long, and has a basin area of 1348 km². Most of its length is in the department of Moselle, except for the part between Aulnois-sur-Seille and Cheminot, which is in

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle from Chambrey to Aulnois-sur-Seille.

Upstream

Originating in the Pond region, the Seille then crosses the Saulnois, a region in the south of Moselle. This section of the river is part of the ''Parc naturel régional de Lorraine'' ("Regional Natural Park of Lorraine"). The river then flows into a large valley, the ground of which is composed mainly of marl and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

. Since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, there has been much work performed on the Seille, in part to straighten it (to render it

navigable A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and calm enough for a water vessel (e.g. boats) to pass safely. Such a navigable water is called a ''waterway'', and is preferably with few obstructions against di ...

), to drain the nearby swamps, and to limit

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing of adjacent low-lying areas. Its linear course and the treelessness of its banks makes it of little interest to the landscape, and today the erosion of its banks poses problems. Despite this, the valley is of biological interest:

salt water Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish wat ...

resurgences have led to the presence of various plant species that are usually confined to

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

lines, including

glasswort The glassworts are various succulent, annual halophytic plants, that is, plants that thrive in saline environments, such as seacoasts and salt marshes. The original English glasswort plants belong to the genus ''Salicornia'', but today the glass ...

, ''

aster tripolium ''Tripolium pannonicum'', called sea aster or seashore aster and often known by the synonyms ''Aster tripolium'' or ''Aster pannonicus'', is a flowering plant, native to Eurasia and northern Africa, that is confined in its distribution to salt ma ...

'', and sea-spurreys. , work is being done on the river: the banks of the river are being reforested, and an oxygenation system is being installed. The Seille has a number of

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

, the most important of which are: * the ''Spin'' and the ''Verbach'', in Dieuze (right bank) * the ''ruisseau de Videlange'' (lit. "brook of Videlange"), near Mulcey (right bank) * the ''Nard'', in Marsal (left bank) * the ''Petite Seille'' (lit. "Small Seille"), in Salonnes (right bank) * the ''Loutre Noire'' (lit. "Black Otter"), in Moncel-sur-Seille (left bank)

Downstream

Downstream, the Seille is much less straight, following a contorted path along the border of the department of Moselle. This section of the river has comparatively few tributaries: * the ''Osson'', at Ajoncourt * the ''ruisseau Saint-Jean'' (lit. "St. John brook"), in Létricourt (right bank) * the ''ruisseau Saint-Pierre'' (lit. "St. Peter brook") Finally, in

, after passing the ''Porte des Allemands'' (a 13th-century castle, lit. "Gate of the Germans"), it flows into the right bank of the Moselle.

Flora and fauna

The river is classified as "Category II" (categories are based on types of fish), and is the habitat for a very large variety of fish. It is also home to a variety of other animals, such as otters, herons, and caterpillars. The Seille suffers from

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

Toponymy

Numerous towns and villages incorporate the name of the river. Some examples include: Aboncourt-sur-Seille, Aulnois-sur-Seille, Bey-sur-Seille, Brin-sur-Seille, Coin-sur-Seille, Haraucourt-sur-Seille, Mailly-sur-Seille, Malaucourt-sur-Seille, Moncel-sur-Seille, Morville-sur-Seille, Port-sur-Seille, and Vic-sur-Seille. The suffix "''sur-Seille''" means "on the Seille" in French, and the practice is analogous to the English place names that incorporate river names, such as Newcastle upon Tyne.

References

External links

Photos and History of the Seille
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110131075945/http://seillevalley.com/ {{Authority control Rivers of France Rivers of Grand Est Rivers of Moselle (department)