 In 1853, he approved and provided funding for Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of the medieval town of Carcassonne.He also sponsored Viollet-le-Duc's restoration of the Château de Vincennes and the Château de Pierrefonds, In 1862, he closed the prison which had occupied the Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel since the French Revolution, where many important political prisoners had been held, so it could be restored and opened to the public.From the beginning of his reign, Napoleon III launched a series of social reforms aimed at improving the life of the working class.