While he was researching historical monuments, Mérimée wrote three of his most famous novellas; "La Vénus d'Ille" (1837), "Colomba" (1840) and "Carmen" (1845). "The Venus d'Ille" was a by-product of his 1834 monument inspection tour to Roussillon, to the village of Casefabre and the Priory of Serrabina, near Ille-sur-Têt. The novella tells the story of a statue of Venus that comes to life and kills the son of its owner, whom it believes to be its husband. The story was inspired by a story of the Middle Ages recounted by the historian Freher. Using this story as an example, Mérimée described the art of writing fantasy literature; "Don't forget that when you recount something supernatural, one should describe as many details of concrete reality as possible. That is the great art of Hoffmann and his fantastic stories".