f) Survivals?

There is no hagiographical tradition concerning the site of the Sources-de-la-Seine, although many stories tell of attempts of saints to overthrow and replace the indigenous gods, religious practices and traditions. It is nonetheless worth noting that a powerful abbey dedicated to Saint Seine or Sequanus was established in 534 AD ten kilometres south of the pagan sanctuary of Sequana, which was partly destroyed at the end of the 3rd c. AD during the Germanic invasions.¹⁸⁴⁸ Legends recount that Sequanus’s donkey made a spring to spout up. From that time on, the saint became worshipped in periods of drought. Until the 18th c, pilgrims came to the source to attend mass and traditionally throw goblets of water.¹⁸⁴⁹

A part of the site was bought by the city of Paris in 1864 and transformed into a park, where visitors may now come and throw coins into the sacred spring. In the fifties, an artificial grotto was erected near the ancient sanctuary to receive a modern stone statue of the goddess Sequana sculpted by François Jouffroy.¹⁸⁵⁰ Sequana is represented as a Classical nymph, wearing leaves in her hair and a cloth around her hips and holding fruit in her hands (fig. 23).

Fig. 22: Reconstruction of the Gallo-Roman sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Sequana at the Sources-de-la-Seine with the sacred spring at its centre. Deyts, 1994, pp. 6-7.

1. fanum* (temple building) 2. portico surrounding the main spring 3. canopy* 4. possible emplacement of a cult statue of Sequana 5. ancillary buildings of unknown functions 6. oval basin containing sacred water 7. processional way 8. buildings, possibly shops, situated at the entrance of the sanctuary (I to IV are the different terraces).

Fig. 23: Modern statue of the Nymph of the River Seine by the Sculptor Jouffroy, situated in an artificial grotto, near the ancient Gallo-Roman sanctuary of the Sources-de-la-Seine dedicated to the Celtic goddess Sequana. Deyts, 1985, p. 9.