Bièvre (river)
River in France
title: "Bièvre (river)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rivers-of-france", "rivers-of-hauts-de-seine", "rivers-of-val-de-marne", "rivers-of-yvelines", "rivers-of-paris", "subterranean-rivers", "rivers-of-île-de-france"] description: "River in France" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bièvre_(river)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary River in France ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Bièvre |
| image | Apse of the chapel of the Manufacture des Gobelins.jpg |
| image_caption | Back of the Gobelins Manufactory, adjoining the Bièvre River, in 1830. |
| map | Bièvre (rivière).png |
| source1_location | Île-de-France |
| mouth_location | Seine |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| progression | |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | France |
| length | 34.6 km |
| discharge1_avg | 0.2 m3/s |
| basin_size | 201 km2 |
| :: |
| name = Bièvre | image = Apse of the chapel of the Manufacture des Gobelins.jpg | image_caption = Back of the Gobelins Manufactory, adjoining the Bièvre River, in 1830. | map = Bièvre (rivière).png | source1_location = Île-de-France | mouth_location = Seine | mouth_coordinates = | progression = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = France | length = 34.6 km | source1_elevation = | discharge1_avg = 0.2 m3/s | basin_size = 201 km2 ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Bievre_a_Fresnes_2.JPG" caption="Bièvre at Fresnes"] ::
The Bièvre () is a 34.6 km long river of the Île-de-France région that flows into the Seine (left bank) in Paris.
Name
The name is often thought to derive from the archaic French word ** meaning "beaver". Other suggested origins are a Celtic word for "mud", Latin bibere "to drink", and French **, a word describing the man-made canals that carried water to mill wheels.
Course
The source of the Bièvre is in Guyancourt, département Yvelines. From there, it flows through the following départements and towns:
- Yvelines: Jouy-en-Josas
- Essonne: Bièvres, Massy
- Hauts-de-Seine: Antony
- Val de Marne: Fresnes, L'Haÿ-les-Roses, Cachan, Arcueil, Gentilly
The river enters Paris near Stade Charléty (close to the border between the 13th and 14th arrondissements), and reaches the Seine River in the Latin Quarter (5th arrondissement) close to Île de la Cité. The Bièvre was diverted from its original course in 1148 by the monks of the abbey of Saint-Victor. This diversion is reflected in maps of Paris dating from the 13th century. Historically the river was heavily industrialized with mills, which led to the straightening of the river. Tanneries, slaughterhouses and dye-makers were built along its banks, leading to serious pollution concerns.
Starting in the 18th century, the river was gradually culverted. Eleven kilometers are canalised under slabs and 5 km have disappeared under rubble and urbanisation in Paris. In modern times the Bièvre forms a rainwater system.
Restoration project
In 2003, 200m of the Bièvre was re-opened in the Parc des Près in Fresnes. At the same time, over twenty direct wastewater connections to the Bièvre were eliminated. When the river is completely disconnected from the wastewater system, the stormwater from the river will no longer flow into a wastewater treatment plant but will instead flow directly into the River Seine, which is expected to lead to significant savings in wastewater treatment costs. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/BievreMassy.JPG" caption="Bièvre at Massy"] ::
Another section of the Bièvre between Massy and Verrières was re-opened in 2006.
References
References
- {{sandre
- Mary Winston Nicklin, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20210201120633/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/france/in-paris-conservation-effort-is-recovering-lost-river/ Parisians want to recover a legendary river now buried under concrete]", ''National Geographic'', February 2021.
- "Reopening of a section of the River Bièvre in an urban environment". Communauté d’agglomération du val de Bièvre.
- Jones, Colin. (2005). "Paris : biography of a city". Viking.
- [http://www.onema.fr/IMG/EV/publication/rex_r9_bievre_vbatGB.pdf pdf about the Fresnes reopening of the Bievre, at www.onema.fr] {{webarchive. link. (2016-04-06)
- [http://www.siavb.fr/ The Syndicat intercommunal d’assainissement de la vallée de la Bièvre (Bièvre Valley Intermunicipal Sewerage Association), siavb.fr]
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::