A three-dimensional porous catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent monolith of stacked strands of catalyst, catalyst carrier or absorbent material, composed of alternating layers of linear spaced-apart parallel strands, wherein the strands in alternating layers are oriented at an angle to one another, wherein the distance between inner spaced-apart parallel strands is larger than the distance between outer spaced-apart parallel strands in at least a part of the layers of the monolith.