eight months of siege by Catholic forces. It would later be one of the fortified towns given the status of Huguenot safe havens by the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (August 1570). By the time of the French Revolution only a dozen monks remained in the priory, which was sold to private individuals and preserved. An improved highway that was to have been driven through the church was deflected by the report of Prosper Mérimée, the first inspector of monuments (and author of Carmen), who classed it as worth saving in 1840. Sights: The priory church, burial place of Simon I de Senlis, Earl of Huntingdon-Northampton. The church of Sainte-Croix-Notre-Dame, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France.