Sens

Town in Yonne département, Burgundy, France; situated 50 km/31 mi northwest of Auxerre on the River Yonne; population (1999) 26,900. Its 12th-16th-century cathedral was the first built in France in the truly Gothic style. There is a trade in agricultural produce, wine, and wood. Agricultural implements, leather goods, and chemicals are manufactured.

The town was known to the Romans. Until 1627 it had responsibility over all the sees of northern France, and was therefore one of the most important religious centres at that time. The cathedral contains one of the best collections of ecclesiastical ‘accessories’ in France, including some of the vestments worn by Thomas à Becket.