Seyne (French pronunciation: [sɛn]; Vivaro-Alpine: Sèina) is a commune in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, a department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in south-east France.

[3] The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence tourism board listed Seyne-les-Alpes as one of their "villages and towns of character", an award given to places around the region with remarkable architecture and less than 2000 inhabitants.

The name of the village, as it appeared for the first time in 1147 (in Sedena), is thought to refer to the Gallic tribe of the Adanates, or to be built on the root *Sed-, for rock, according to Charles Rostaing.

[12] Seyne appeared in charters in 1146 ('in Sedena')[13] Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona forced the submission of Provençal barons who had revolted in the Baussenque Wars.

[17] The death of Joanna I of Naples opened a succession crisis at the head of the Comté de Provence [fr].

[19] The fair held in Seyne in the late Middle Ages benefitted from its crossroads location, and continued until the end of the Ancien Regime.

[20][21] Seyne was a baillie which subsequently became a seneschal headquarters: It included the communities of Auzet, Barles, La Bréole, Montclar, Pontis, Selonnet, Saint-Martin-lès-Seyne, Saint-Vincent, Ubaye, Verdaches, Le Vernet.

[26] The town was captured and looted by Protestant captain Paulon de Mauvans [fr] in the summer of 1560, during the Wars of Religion.

The Baron of Germany [fr] hid here in 1585, before the offensive of the Catholic League,[29] without preventing the capture of the city by the Duke of Épernon.

[31] At the end of the Wars of Religion, the Duke of Lesdiguières established a camp where he prepared his campaign to take Provence back from the Catholic Leaguers.

[17] In 1690, the Marquis de Parelle led the Piedmontaise army of 5,000 men down from the Ubaye Valley and besieged Seyne.

The city was forced to negotiate since the medieval enclosure was insufficient to ensure its defence, and a ransom was set at 11,000 livres.

Although not satisfied during his inspection tour in 1700, Vauban failed to modify the fortifications, in part by building redoubts of setbacks in the north.

The annexation of Ubaye by the Treaty of Utrecht removed the threat sufficiently for the work to be deferred indefinitely,[36] (except for repairs to the walls in 1786).

[37] The city was the seat of a viguerie until the French Revolution[39] and an office of the Poste Royale [fr] at the end of the Ancien Régime.

[45] The fall of the Bastille was welcomed and thought to presage the end of arbitrary use of royal power, and perhaps profound changes.

Rumours of armed soldiers devastating everything in their path spread rapidly, accompanied by gunfire, violence against nobles, and the organization of militias.

[37] The arsenal of the citadel was requisitioned, and 93 guns and nine cannons were distributed in Seyne and the villages of Saint-Pons, Selonnet and Chardavon.

From the south, disquieting news arrived of the occupation of Castellane by 4,000 Barbets [fr] and the advance of 1,000 Piedmont soldiers in the Durance Valley.

As soon as the fear had settled, the authorities disarmed workers and landless peasants, and kept only landowners and business owners in the National Guard.

In 2024, the commune voted to close the Grand Puy ski facilities effective 1 November because there was no longer adequate snow.

It incorporates an old tower modified to accommodate artillery, is equipped with a barracks, and entry was barred, on the town side, by a tenaille.

The restoration added an advanced battery[72] or hornwork, a rebuilt door (1821), and some casemates for rear firing and caponiers.

[77] A carved bench, leather seat, and a five foot long table of beech from the 17th and the 18th centuries, currently kept at the town hall, originally came from the hospital.

The Church of Our Lady of Nazareth [fr] (Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth), built in Romanesque style, has completely retained its initial appearance.

[81] Legendarily attributed to Charlemagne, in fact construction of the present building can be traced back to the middle of the 12th century.

[82] The western façade is decorated with a large rose window with twelve rays[83] and a sundial, composed on a marble slab, dating from 1878.

[82] The portal of the south façade is Gothic, from the 13th or 14th century, notable for being framed by two separations of arches which rely on the surrounding buttresses.

[91] The furnishings of the church include: Finally, the priest has full vestments (chasuble, dalmatic, clevis, veil covering the chalice, purse, stole, maniple), satin brocade, with colourful ornaments, and an undecorated cross of a landscape, from the 18th century.

[102] The church is decorated with a Crucifixion of Jesus from the 17th century, in which Christ is surrounded by all the instruments of the Passion,[clarification needed] two penitents and two angels,[103] and is also a listed object.