Abbaye Sainte-Marie du Mont-des-Cats

Godewaersvelde

On the hill of Mont-des-Cats (164 metres), which overlooks the plain of Flanders, Antonine hermits settled around 1650, attached in 1689 to the community of nearby Mont Kemmel; the Revolution suppressed the hermitage in 1792. The painter Nicolas Ruyssen bought the ruins in 1819 and opened a school there, before handing the site over to religious: in 1826, eight Trappist monks from the abbey of Notre-Dame du Gard founded the abbey of Sainte-Marie du Mont, still alive two centuries later. The monks brewed beer from 1847 to 1905 and have made Mont des Cats cheese since 1890, matured for at least a month by a method close to that of Port-Salut. In the 20th century, the monastery was entirely rebuilt; Monsignor Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, consecrated the renovated church. Some thirty Trappists live here today, welcoming guests and pilgrims in a monastic guesthouse, while part of the community once went on to found Westvleteren, in Belgium. The hill, a spiritual high place of French Flanders, draws walkers, food lovers and retreatants in search of silence.

Getting there : At Godewaersvelde, via the A25, exit 13 (Steenvoorde), then towards Godewaersvelde; car park near the abbey; church, monastery shop and guesthouse open to visitors

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound