Abbaye de Chézery, Cistercian abbey in Chézery-Forens, France

The Abbaye de Chézery is a former Cistercian abbey in Chézery-Forens, in the Valserine valley. The surviving monastery building has a 17th-century facade and some vaulted rooms; the abbey church, destroyed by fire in 1802, no longer stands. An 18th-century engraving shows the walled complex with a tall spired church and a smaller tower.

The monastery was founded in 1140 by twelve monks from Fontenay Abbey and received support from Count Amédée III of Savoy. The community influenced regional development and remained a religious center for several centuries.

The abbey is dedicated to Notre-Dame, not to a Saint Theresa. Its emblematic abbot is Roland, the third abbot, a hunchback of childlike stature reputed as a diplomat and miracle worker; his relics are kept in the current church. The local legend that the monks invented Bleu de Gex is not supported by archives, which instead show pasture leases requiring butter and cheese to be supplied to the monks.

The site sits along an ancient path to Saint-Claude and is easily accessible by car. Visitors should wear sturdy shoes as the grounds are rough and pathways can be uneven.

The abbey's lands once stretched far beyond the Valserine: granges are documented in the Pays de Gex, on both banks of the Rhône, in Semine and Michaille, and even in the distant Dombes. Pasture leases obliged tenants to supply the monks with butter and cheese, and no document shows the monks making cheese themselves.