Montserrat, Barcelona - Catalonia's legendary monastery in a magnificent mountain landscape

Today we visit the famous Montserrat Monastery. The Benedictine monastery is the Catalan national shrine and lies in a wild and majestic mountain landscape. It is one of the most visited destinations in the hinterland of Barcelona.

To travel from Barcelona to Montserrat we take the train. From Plaça d'Espanya train station, the R5 train leaves every 20 to 40 minutes. At the “Monistrol de Montserrat” station we change to the “Cremallera de Montserrat” rack railway, which takes us directly up to the monastery. Even this 15-minute ride is a first highlight with great views of the rugged sandstone mountains. The entire journey from Barcelona to Montserrat takes approximately 1.5 hours.

The rack railway ends directly at the Montserrat Monastery at an altitude of 725 meters. The massive monastery nestles directly against the rock walls like an eagle's nest, while the bizarre rock needles rise into the sky above, a fantastic view. From here you have an breathtaking view of the Catalan hinterland and as far as Barcelona, where you can clearly see Tibidabo, Barcelona's local mountain. The monastery of Montserrat itself is architecturally nothing special; the unique panoramic location and the wonderful rocky backdrop into which the walls were built are impressive.

The monastery was built between 1025 and 1035. The main features of today's monastery complex date from the 15th century. In 1811 the monastery was largely destroyed by Napoleonic troops and then rebuilt in a more functional style. At the time of the Franco dictatorship, the monastery resisted. Despite the ban, Catalan continued to be spoken there and masses were held in Catalan. Many of those persecuted by the Franco regime were hidden here. More than 20 monks were executed because of this. This resistance makes the monastery today an important symbol of Catalan independence and the fight against oppression. There is also a museum with works by well-known artists such as Monet, El Greco and Dali as well as archaeological and liturgical exhibits.

The main religious attraction is the black madonna, which was found in the 12th century and is said to have performed miracles and is now the patron saint of Catalonia. The madonna is still the destination of pilgrimages today. It towers over the high altar in the monastery's basilica. In her honor, around 50 choir boys from the monastery's boarding school sing church songs every day. We stand in line for the visit to the Black Madonna. This winds its way very slowly through the side rooms of the basilica and we need a lot of patience until we finally stand in front of the legendary figure.

But actually from our point of view not the monastery is the highlight, but the landscape that surrounds it! As if out of nowhere, the mighty mountain range of Montserrat rises from the plain and reaches a height of 1236 meters at the summit of Sant Jeroni. The rugged mountain landscape with rugged peaks and bizarre rock formations exudes a fascination that is difficult to resist. We take the “Funicular de Sant Joan” cable car up to the mountain station at an altitude of 970 meters. From here you can hike up to the highest peak, Sant Jeroni, in about an hour. Unfortunately we only make it to the hermitage of Sant Joan because the visit to the black madonna took us more time than expected. But this short hike also offers great views and exciting paths between rock faces and abysses. This mountain landscape is a hiking paradise. The further you go, the quieter it becomes. A stark contrast to the lively city of Barcelona and also the heavily visited monastery!

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You can find the complete channel playlist for our stay in Barcelona here:    • Barcelona  

Visit in April 2023

Chapter
00:00 Intro
00:55 Train ride to Montserrat
02:20 Montserrat Monastery
03:47 Basilica with black madonna
05:27 With the cable car to Sant Joan
06:44 Hike in the mountains of Montserrat
11:47 Back at the monastery and return
13:17 Outro