Montserrat
Montserrat, quite literally Serrated Mountain, is a mountain range with multiple peaks about 38 mi (62 km) and about one hour’s drive from Barcelona. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. The main peaks are Sant Jeroni 4,055 ft (1,236 m), Montgrós 3,674 ft (1,120 m) and Miranda de les Agulles 2,972 ft (903 m).
Its name describes its peculiar shape of multitude of rock formations which are visible from far away. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a type of sedimentary rock. Montserrat was designated as a National Park in 1987. Montserrat is well known as the site of the Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary.
The mountain Montserrat has been of religious significance since pre-Christian times when the Romans built a temple to worship Venus. The first written mention of the first monastery is in 880 AD, the builders were hermit monks who built four chapels on the mountain, St Mary's, St. Iscle's, St.Peter's and St. Martin's, the monks live a life of isolation and solitary prayer. Today only one of these Chapels is still standing – St.Iscle, it is located in the Monastery garden.
In 1025 the Abbot of Ripoli and Bishop of Vic, Oliba, officially founded the Monastery of Montserrat by expanding the hermitage of Santa Maria. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a Romanesque church was built in Montserrat.
Through the following centuries Montserrat's importance grew: in 1223 there is the first account of a boy's choir at Montserrat, in 1409 the Monastery became an independent abbey, and in 1490 Montserrat's printing press was installed. In 1493 the Monastery's name was spread even further when one of the hermits went on a voyage to America with Columbus and one of the islands in the Antilles was named after Montserrat.
In the 19th century Montserrat hit some troubling times. In 1811 - 1812 Montserrat was destroyed by Napoleon's army. Then in 1835, the Land Acts meant that the Monastery lost all of its property and all but one Monk left the Monastery. However, in 1844 the Monks returned to Montserrat, and in 1858 the reconstruction of Montserrat began.
Again, in the twentieth century, the Monks experienced turbulent times during the Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939). During this period the Monks were forced to leave the Monastery. Over the period of the war, 23 Monks were killed. Fortunately, the autonomous government of Catalonia managed to save Montserrat and free it from looting and destruction. After the war, the Monks returned and continued with the reconstruction of the Monastery.
Since 1947 the Monastery has had many improvements. A new museum has been added, the Basilica has been restored, and the entire complex has been built to cater for the large number of visitors who come to Montserrat each year.
Montserrat in Catalonia Spain means different things to different people. To some it is a monastery, to some it is a natural park, to some it is a mountain, to some all of the above. Whatever your reasons might be for going to Montserrat, you will be amazed by its unique beauty and stunning sights.
Montserrat offers many different activities, the mountain’s peaks are reachable through paths, watching a sunset or sunrise from the top is quite a unique experience. Hiking, biking, and climbing are also popular activities as is the Montserrat Monastery Museum, where you can see works by major artists, such as Dalí, El Greco, Monet or Giordano as well as archaeological and liturgical exhibits.
The videos below (not mine) will give you a better feeling of this impressive mountain.
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In Montserrat you will also find a decent sized shop which goes beyond selling the typical cheap trinkets, it sells tasteful souvenirs of all sorts including replicas of famed Catalan architect and artist Antoni Gaudi. In the shop you can also find all sorts of delicacies, including, olives, olive oil, artisan chocolates, sweets, nuts, honey, wines, liqueurs, pastries, breads and sandwiches.
Right next door to the gift shop you will find a large self-service cafeteria that offers food far beyond that of the average cafeteria. The food is quite excellent, offering fresh bread and pastries, simple yet quite delicious cold and hot plates as well as salads, fresh fruit, fresh coffee, refreshments, wine and beer.
If you want some added thrills and if you have nerves of steel and if you are a good driver I’d recommend the drive up to the monastery. The ride is on a two lane road where one hairpin turns into a left turn that turns into a right turn just to turn into another hairpin. Add to that pedestrians and cyclists that seemingly amble right in the middle of the road, bus traffic and in places a flimsy guardrail that separates the road from a seemingly endless precipice.
As do many places with a long historical association with people, Montserrat is shrouded in mystery and mysticism, some call it the “holy mountain”. We, us, have become comfortable in our lives, most of us have electricity and internet, we have entertainment at our fingertips, but for the greater part of human history we had none of that.
So centuries ago there is a group of unknown people that for whatever reason decided to climb a mountain, perhaps they are cold, perhaps they are hungry, it is night, they build a fire and huddle around it tired and bored out of their minds.
Turns out someone is good at telling stories and it’s better to listen to him than just sit there and do nothing. Maybe the story teller just makes things up as he goes along, maybe he embellishes it a little bit, before you know it the story gets repeated and embellished a bit more, if the story survives you have a “mystery” associated with a place. Some stories no doubt associated with superstitions present or past.
As modern times rolled around the mountain became associated with stories about aliens and spacecraft. You will not have to venture long or talk to too many people before you hear stories of sightings. I’m not judging their veracity, ultimately it depends on whether or not you believe in angels, demons, ghosts, aliens or any such phenomena.
However, to be fair, those who venture much beyond the immediate surroundings of the monastery complex should exercise caution and treat the mountain with respect. There are numerous outcroppings and crevices as well as caves.
I’ve been told by locals that people disappear all the time in the mountain. It is not difficult to imagine people wandering int a cave and not being able to find their way out, or to slip in a path and fall to their deaths. Some areas are heavily wooded and the authorities just do not have sufficient manpower for extensive searches. Those planning on climbing or hiking should do so in larger groups.
All in all this is a great place to spend a day, or two if you want to explore more. There is a lot of history and nature to be experienced in Montserrat.
Lastly, my personal observation is that if it now takes about 20 minutes by car on a paved road to get up as far as the monastery I can't even imagine the effort it must have required to climb up there before humans developed any technology. What fervor or what desire to get as far away from other humans drove the original monks from such an effort? It defies the imagination that every construction material, every item necessary to survive, would have to be taken up the mountain either on the backs of humans or beasts.