Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inférieure. The department can be split into three main areas: The département was created in 1790 as Seine-Inférieure, one of five departements that replaced the former province of Normandy. In 1800 five arrondissements were created within the département, namely Rouen, Le Havre, Dieppe, Neufchatel and Yvetot, although the latter two were disbanded in 1926. On 18
Abbey of Saint-Seine Sainte-Marie de Cestres, or Cestres Abbey. In time, the town of Saint-Seine(-l'Abbaye) grew up round the monastery. After Sigo's death in 581, his name gradually changed to "Soigne", then "Seigne", and finally "Saint Seine", apparently under the influence of the nearby sources of the River Seine. In the 8th century the great reformer Saint Benedict of Aniane made his profession and became a monk at Saint-Seine. He practised a rigorous asceticism and studied the various monastic rules then in use, including the Rules of Saint Pachomius, Saint Basil the Great and Saint Columbanus. He became the abbey's cellarer. In about