Montserrat

Montserrat (Serrated Mountain), 50 km. North-west of Barcelona, is an amazing 1236 m mountain of truly weird rock pillars, shaped by wind, rain and frost from a conglomeration of limestone, pebbles and sand that once lay under the sea. With the historic Benedictine Monestir de Montserrat, one of Catalunya's most important shrines, perched at 725 m on its side, it makes a great outing from Barcelona.

From the mountain, on a clear day, you can see as far as the Pyrenees, Barcelona's Tibidabo hill and even, if you are lucky, Mallorca.

Recommendations

We recommend you to visit the Museu de Montserrat on Pla¸a de Santa Maria. It has an excellent collection ranging from an Egyptian mummy and Gothic altarpieces to art by El Greco, Caravaggio, Monet, Degas, Picasso and many others. Entrance fee: 4,50

We also recommend you to visit the Basilica, the monastery's church. The basilica fa¸ade, with its carvings of Christ and the 12 Apostles, dates from between 1900 and 1901, despite its 16th century style. From 12:00pm through 6:00 pm you can see the image of La Moreneta, as she is familiarly known due to her dark colour, is a Romanesque statute made out of wood at the end of the 12th century. Her colour is due to the changes to the varnish on her face and hands with the passing of time.

The Holy Image is a statue of the Virgin of Montserrat in all her majesty and the Baby Jesus seated on her lap. The Virgin is holding the spherical orb, the symbol of the cosmos, creation, the perfect volume in her right hand.

Mary has her left hand on the Boy’s shoulder, thus showing that this all-powerful king is her son. The Baby Jesus is giving a blessing with his right hand and holds a pine cone, the symbol of fertility and everlasting life in his left hand. It gives an impression of majesty yet at the same time accessibility.