Formerly very popular with the kings and princes of France, the Oise boasts its fantastic architecture and its landscapes alternating between forests, fields and hedged farmland. This place is an equestrianism Mecca with its vast forests great for this sports activity and its famous Horse town, Chantilly, where the most prestigious horse races take place. The Oise also has an important religious heritage: Chaalis, Lieu-Restauré, Ourscamp and Moncel abbeys, and the Gothic cathedrals of Beauvais, Senlis and Noyon.