Mercoire Abbey, Cistercian abbey in Cheylard-l'Évêque, France

Mercoire Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery in the forest of Mercoire, in the commune of Cheylard-l'Évêque, Lozère, at an altitude of about 1,200 m near the Mercoire stream. The surviving buildings form two attached ranges of rough grey and tan masonry: on the left a lower, steeply pitched building with a dark slate roof and a small square stone chimney, and to its right a longer two-storey range whose slate roof is broken by a triangular pediment with a small round oculus. The upper floor has evenly spaced windows with pale stone surrounds; the ground floor is partly screened by vegetation.

Guillaume de Randon, baron of Randon in Gévaudan, granted the nuns part of the Mercoire forest, and the Cistercian abbey of Mazan took in the community before 1207. Up to 50 nuns and 15 noble girls lived here under the Cistercian rule. Around 1578 the Huguenot captain Matthieu Merle destroyed the convent; it was rebuilt in the 17th century, burned almost entirely in 1773, and dissolved in 1792.

The name Mercoire is said to come from a column to Mercury that stood on the site before the monastery replaced it. The abbey was dissolved in 1792 and sold as national property in 1793; since 1923 it has belonged to the Malzieu family, and the remaining buildings form part of a farm with tourist accommodation.

The abbey stands at about 1,225 m in the forest of Mercoire, near the source of the Allier and the hamlet of Cheylard-l'Évêque in Lozère. The surviving buildings belong to a working farm with tourist accommodation, so access to the interior depends on the owners; ask locally before walking up. The lanes are narrow and the altitude brings snow in winter.

The name Mercoire comes from a column dedicated to Mercury that is said to have stood on the site before the monastery replaced it. The abbey lies at about 1,225 m in the forest of Mercoire, near the Mercoire stream, a tributary of the Langouyrou. The Beast of Gévaudan is reported to have ravaged the area around the monastery.