Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Abbey, Benedictine abbey in Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, France.

Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert Abbey, or Gellone Abbey, is a Benedictine complex on the Hérault river in the southern Cevennes foothills, about 45 km from Montpellier. Its abbey church has a tall barrel-vaulted nave with narrow side aisles and plain stone piers; the square bell tower dates from the second half of the 12th century. Of the former trapezoidal cloister, only two wings partly survive after 19th-century restoration.

A nobleman named William of Gellone founded this monastery in 804 as a religious community during the Carolingian period. The main buildings and cloister were constructed later, primarily between the 11th and 13th centuries.

William of Gellone died in 812 and was venerated soon after; his tomb made Gellone a major stop on the Via Tolosana, the French route to Santiago de Compostela. After his canonisation in 1066, pilgrims increased and the monastery became known as Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert. The village and abbey keep his Occitan name, Guilhelm.

The abbey stands on the Hérault river in the southern foothills of the Massif Central, about 90 m above sea level and roughly 45 km by road from Montpellier. The cloister survives only in two of its four wings, restored in the 19th century, so expect a partial layout rather than a complete square.

Many original sculptures and sections of the cloister from the 11th to 13th centuries were moved to New York and now sit in The Cloisters Museum. This removal scattered the collection across continents, leaving the original site less complete than it once was.