Les Châtelliers, Gothic abbey in Fomperron, France

Les Châtelliers is a ruined Cistercian abbey split between Fomperron and Chantecorps, of which only fragments remain: a surviving stretch of cloister shows square pillars with moulded capitals carrying round arches, with a lower arcade behind them across a courtyard. The pillars rest on a low stone parapet, and the mottled grey and tan stone stands above low vegetation. The 65 m abbey church was demolished, its last remains in 1908.

Géraud de Salles founded the monastery in 1119; it joined the Cistercian order in 1160 as a daughter house of Clairvaux. The abbey church, consecrated in 1156, was rebuilt between 1249 and 1277 under Abbot Thomas, and again re-consecrated in 1685. Huguenots ravaged the site on 7 November 1568, and the monks left in 1791. The last remains of the church were demolished in 1908, the conventual buildings in 1933.

The name Châtelliers comes from a Gallo-Roman fortified camp (castellum), partly uncovered in digs in 1889. Géraud de Salles died in 1120 two kilometres away; his tomb was moved into the abbey choir in 1121, and the monastery became a pilgrimage centre until the end of the Middle Ages. Marie d'Anjou, widow of Charles VII, died here on 29 November 1463 returning from Santiago de Compostela, and the abbey took the title of royal abbey.

The site is private, split between three owners, and cannot be visited; there are no guided tours. It lies near the boundary of Fomperron and Chantecorps, about 22 km southeast of Parthenay and 8 km west of Ménigoute. The Grand étang des Châtelliers and the neighbouring southern plots have been protected since a ministerial decree of 26 April 1946, but the standing remains themselves are not listed as monuments historiques.

The abbey's bell now hangs in the church of Sainte-Néomaye, and four springing points of rib vaults survive in the wall of a farm building thought to have been the lay brothers' chapel. The site is private and cannot be visited; the 24-hectare Grand Étang and neighbouring plots were listed by ministerial decree on 26 April 1946.