The legend of saint Seine

We are now near Dijon, in the old Benedictine Saint-Seine abbey.

Its name comes from its founder, saint Sequanus or saint Seine, who lived there in the 6th century.

Seine was a young monk from Burgundy, who was send in the area to evangelize a naughty bunch of pagans, the Burgondes.

After that, he found himself a nice little place in the forest and raised a primitive oratory, basis of the current abbey.

The legend says one day, the old saint Seine came back to his abbey riding a donkey.

The creature knelt down on a rock, to let the old man easily dismount. The donkey’s knees let a mark on the ground, and when he stood up, a hole was made.

From that hole water sprang: river Seine!