Mont des Cats

The hill is seat of the Mont des Cats abbey,[1] famous for its cheese produced by monks since 1890.

The name has nothing to do with cats, but is derived from the name of a Germanic tribe known as Chatti (French: Chattes; Dutch; Chatten), living in the area after the fall of the Roman Empire (5th century).

A breakaway group of Trappist monks left Mont des Cats and settled in Westvleteren (Belgium).

During this engagement, Prince Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg von Hesse was mortally wounded and died in the monastery later that night.

Mont des Cats cheese has been produced by the monks since 1890 with the milk of local farms,[5] in a small independent dairy.

Affinage (maturing) takes a minimum of one month and during this period the cheese is washed in salted water and dyed with roucou, a reddish derivative from annatto seeds.