Trip 45

January 16,2024

Late start out today, but we are traveling an hour + out of Barcelona to Montserrat Abbey. The first part was finding the rail station we needed. There are a number of metro lines in the area we’re in, but it’s hard to spot the one elevator across the Plaça de Espanya that takes us down to the station (there’s no apparent connection between the metro line we came in on and the rail station). My better half has already scouted out the best tickets to buy and with a minor hitch at the ticket machine (wouldn’t take one of several debit cards but would take a touch to pay from an iPhone) , we’re ready to find the train that leaves in 30 minutes. It’s about an hour on the train from Barcelona to the point where we take the funicular up to Monserrat (cable car, which would have been more scenic, is down for maintenance) and only about 15 minutes further on the funicular.

Once the train makes its way out of Barcelona, we begin to see the mountains in which the abbey and other buildings are nestled.

I wasn’t at all prepared for how much and how large the abbey and adjoining structures are in this very remote mountain location. We’re obviously traveling off-season now, but there are quite a few structures oriented to accommodate the large number of visitors who come here later in the year. There’s a museum, 2 large cafeterias, a hostel, what appears to be a hotel under construction and two cable cars that go up to even higher elevations, though unfortunately they too were offline for maintenance. Oh, and the Abbey. The abbey is literally built into the mountains.

There are roads up here, as we see a few cars and small buses (the large tour buses must park well down below in Montserrat) , but the roads must be very winding and steep.

We understand that there are a number of hiking trails (take them from after the cable cars) , but they are too steep for us and it’s too late in the afternoon to begin anything like that.

There are some other structures built up on the mountain, but not sure what these are, and have to be very difficult to reach. .

Video (not mine)

The monastery of Montserrat itself is not a special attraction from an architectural point of view, though the scenery into which the walls were built is inspiring. Many of the tourists come just for the statue of the Black Madonna, patron saint of Catalonia. The 12th-century figure is enthroned above the high altar in the monastery’s basilica (which we did not see). The Black Madonna was believed to have been carved in Jerusalem at the beginning of the Christian religion. It is a wooden sculpture; the blackness also does not come from a dark colour in the wood, portrayal of a Black African Madonna, or from earlier coverings in the paint. It is known from historical descriptions of the Madonna that she has simply darkened over time. It is one of the most famous Black Madonna statues in the world, and in 1844 Pope Leo XIII declared the Virgin of Montserrat the patroness of Catalonia.

Montserrat Mountain has had religious significance since pre-Christian times. Before Christ, a temple was built here by the Romans to worship Venus. In the first documentary mention of it was in 888, with the construction of the first monastery, It was hermit monks who had built various hermitages on Montserrat. The monastery was then founded by expanding the hermitage of Santa Maria in 1025.
Miracles are attributed to the Black Madonna found in the 12th century, which is still the destination of pilgrimages today. The basilica of the monastery was built in the 16th century, in the transition period between Gothic and Renaissance. In 1811 the monastery was largely destroyed by Napoleonic troops. The Benedictine monastery was rebuilt.

Time to leave and reverse course. The funicular down is already pretty full. It’s not hard to understand why pilgrims come here, or why travelers like us come to appreciate the history and beauty of the abbey.

Short video compilation (YouTube).