Montserrat Monastery. The mountain and monastery of Montserrat in Spain Monastery of Montserrat Basilica of how to get photos, history of the hotels. Statue of Virgin Mary, the choir boys.

Location Montserrat
Province of Barcelona, 50 km north of Barcelona
Construction XI century -1025
Country Spain
Religion Catholicism
Diocese of the Order of Saint Benedict
Architecture Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Eclectic
Address 08199 Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain. Phone: +34 938 777 765 abadiamontserrat.cat

The mountain and monastery of Montserrat (Cat. Monestir Santa Maria de Montserrat, Spanish. Monasterio de Montserrat) in Spain.
•A stay in Spain in Catalonia and do not rise to the famous Montserrat - can mean to miss important.
Montserrat - the creation of a peculiar nature, it contains the most important shrine of Catalonia, the core of spirituality, is the site of a large number of pilgrims. You can not be indifferent to the unusual sight of the mountain place of volcanic origin. Rock stone blocks have their bizarre name. The monastery is located in a fairly humid climate, during the day you can see from the top of the mountain shrouded in mist, dropping to a monastery, and for dinner has a clear blue sky.
Montserrat - Benedictine monastery in Catalonia, the largest and one of the oldest in Europe, built at an altitude of 725 meters above sea level, it is the most influential in Spain.

The name of the island of Montserrat is directly related to the discoveries of Columbus in 1493 and named in his honor, the island is a territory of the United Kingdom. You climb to the monastery on one side of the mountain, contemplating the beautiful landscapes and spectacular views, and after the tour bus - on the other, he saw a mountain with a few on the other side of the back.
Accompanied by a guide (but you can do it yourself) will make a fact-finding tour of the monastery, visit the audio-visual room, a museum of the monastery, which displays archaeological artifacts of the Biblical East, religious objects and paintings XIII-XVIII centuries, works by El Greco, Caravaggio, Picasso, Dali and others. In addition, taste the liquor, the monks insist on herbs gathered on the mountain.
This place is shrouded in various legends and mysteries, mainly due miraculous properties the figure of Our Lady, which was found on a mountain in the IX century, received from local residents affectionate name "La Moreneta", which means "Darkie" because of the dark color of the tree from which it It was cut. The fame of the miracles performed by the Virgin Mary, sold far beyond Spain, it has always attracted a large number of pilgrims.
According to legend of local people, the image of the Virgin Mary has a miraculous power and can fulfill even your most secret desire. Entering the basilica, you can touch the statue of the Virgin Mary and make a wish.
Boys' Choir of Montserrat At 13:00 in the temple, you can hear the hymns by the choir boys in the oldest music school in Europe "Eskalaniya" opened at the monastery (in the summer of 21/08 to 23/06 there is no choir). This team at one time learned the basics of vocal art Jose Carreras.
Duration: 08: 30- 18:30. Dress code: arbitrary, according to the season. Tour obyachno incorporated include: a trip to the tourist bus accompanied by a guide, lifting the mountain train, cable car, visiting the monastery hall, a visit to an art museum of the monastery, tasting liquors "Aromas of Montserrat".
Historical dates
The first references occur in 1025, today it has acquired the form in the 12th century.
In the XVI century, it was consecrated a large gothic cathedral monastery.
In 1811 the monastery was nearly destroyed Napoleon's troops.
Since the beginning of 1844 began its slow recovery in his recovery attended the Benedictine Order and simple Catalans. Worked here master of architecture and artists, including the most eminent of Antoni Gaudi, the work lasted for almost 100 years.
Gaudi was here twice, at that time he was not yet independent, he was an ordinary assistant architect involved in the restoration of the temple. Gaudi took part in the restoration of the temple chapel, which houses the sculpture of St. George slaying the dragon, and worked on the creation of several cultural compositions decorating the path from the monastery to the chapel in the holy cave. In his youth, Gaudi was a zealous opponent of the church, in maturity he became a staunch Catholic.
Usually the questions asked by travelers and people wishing to visit the monastery are:

What is the best way to get to the monastery from Barcelona or from the south of Spain?
How much is the ticket?
Monastery opening hours
When is the best time to visit?
Why does it have that name?

Getting there

Geography where Montserrat. It is a monastery in Spain, in the province of Catalonia on the mountain of the same name in the north - west of Barcelona at a distance of 50-60 kilometers. Translated from Spanish, "Mont" means mountain, and "Serrat" - sawn or cut. You can get here by private car, cable car, funicular or sightseeing bus. Pilgrims used to spend hours climbing, now you can reach the mountain in minutes.

In the photo: The path to the mountain and the monastery of Montserrat. Road to Montserrat. On the bus on the way to Montserrat. Parking in front of the Montserrat transport lift.

On the Spanish roads of Catalonia we move towards the mountain, where the most famous monastery in Spain Montserrat is located. Among the tourists there are people from all over the world speaking different languages and dialects, both from Europe and Asia, as well as from other parts of the world.

There is a funicular railway for climbing the mountain, climbing on it is quite safe. the most modern methods of insurance are adopted here when driving almost to the top of the mountain. In addition to the funicular, for those who wish, there is a cable car, from the window of the car we see a yellow cabin moving along the cable at a slightly lower level.

From the top platform, you can see the Cross Square, from where the arrivals start their route. The square of the founder of the monastery, Abbot Oliba, is decorated with beautiful yews, centennial cedars brought from the Lebanese mountains.

Abbé Oliva is the founder of the monastery. The sculptural coat of arms of Montserrat is located on the ancient wall of the monastery, above the entrance, the date 1565 is carved on it. Along the street Pujada de Nostra Senyora, which means the Rise of Our Lady, we go up to the square of the Virgin Mary. On the left side we meet the figure of St. George - the patron saint of Catalonia in the form of a knight with a shield and a sword, by the sculptor Jusepo Subirax. From whatever angle you look at the warrior, his gaze is directed at you.

Square of the Virgin Mary, consisting of three cascading levels, impresses with its spaciousness and magnificent views from it. If you stand facing the entrance to the Monastery, then on the left there is a small garden in the center there is a beautiful Gothic cross of the 15th century, next to the hotel. Often on Sundays and holidays, folklore performances of various ensembles take place at the mercy, the traditional “castells” are held - the construction of castles from people climbing each other.

On the left side of the quarter there is a two-tier gallery - a cloister, the upper part belongs to the XV-XVI centuries, having a lower height. Beautiful palm trees are planted in front of the gallery, the olive symbolizing peace and fertility, cypress and lava.

Near the entrance where the monks live, on the right side, there is a sculpture of St. Benedict, there is also the most valuable library of Montserrat. Everything in the monastery is very impressive and it amazes and delights, there are no indifferent people here. To meet the statue of the Mother of God, a long queue gathers, access to it opens at 12.00 and the guides usually advise their groups to queue in advance, because then they will have to stand in it even longer.

Black Madonna

In the ancient chronicles it is said that the shepherd boys on the slope of the mountain, not far from its top, stumbled upon a cave, and inside it stood a statue with a baby, they told the local bishop about this, and he ordered to take the figure of Our Lady to the nearest city of Manreza, but it was not possible to transfer it. the small statue turned out to be heavy, it simply could not be moved from its place. The priest realized that this was a sign, and the statue was left in the cave. The rumor about the divine statue brought more and more pilgrims here, soon four chapels appeared on the mountain and they became the progenitors of the future monastery.
The Catalans have a tradition - be sure to visit the sacred mountain and the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary once a year. Ancient monastic documents testify that even then the pilgrims asked for protection not from the Mother of God, who was miraculously found in the cave. The disappearance of the revered Madonna was as mysterious and mystical as her appearance in her time. Chronicles say that around the XII th century a new figure of Our Lady of Montserrat was made, but what happened to that miraculous statue is nowhere to be found. The new Madonna was carved from wood and covered with a special protective composition, over time this composition darkened and in subsequent chronicles we are already talking about the Black Madonna and to the common people this fact became a confirmation of the miraculous properties of the statue. The Catalans fell in love with the statue so much that they come to it as to a native person and even more sincerely believe in its miraculous power. Just like centuries ago, brides are brought to Morineta today to ensure prosperity in family life. Different people turn to her: politicians, creative people, businessmen, ordinary people for blessing and support, they come to ask, they come to give thanks.

The miraculous statue of Our Lady of La Moreneta (Black Madonna) is closed with a transparent cap, her right hand with a sphere is open, which visitors touch and silently make their secret desires, for this purpose, many pilgrims come here to visit the dark-skinned girl from all over the world. The Virgin Mary is asked to help families from infertility, they make wishes, there are no number of cases when a dark-skinned woman helped young families to have a baby. The middle photo shows that a faucet is installed in the wall, from which consecrated water flows, you can drink it, wash yourself and take it with you.

Boys' choir

The atmosphere in the monastery is permeated with energy, strength, peace, every visitor feels it on himself, I don’t want to talk, but just to stay and think about the eternal. The energy of the monastery is amazing, some pilgrims simply feed on the energy of this place. In 1223, Europe's first music school for boys was opened here, and it still exists. The choir has 53 boys and today this school is considered the most prestigious institution in all of Spain. To get here, the boys go through a thorough selection, and for parents this is a huge fact of honor and pride in their child. Here, musical education is given according to established local traditions, lessons are taught in singing, solfeggio, polyphonic and Gregorian singing to organ music, everyone learns to play some musical instrument. General humanitarian scientific and theological subjects are taught, the term of study is 5 years, they come to the monastery when they are 7 years old and leave it when the breaking of the voice begins. The cost of education for parents is 300-400 euros per month, which is 20% of the cost of education.

In front of the entrance to the monastery

Series of sculptures in the niches of the arch gallery

At the entrance, 12 apostles adorn the cathedral, which is one of the most beautiful and mysterious, not only in Spain, but also in Europe. Inner courtyard (atrium). Jesus is in the center, and to the left and to the right of him there are six apostles, the entrance to the Basilica is located here. A beautiful drawing is made on the marble floor - the "circle of power" in St. Mary's Square. A series of sculptures in the niches of the arched gallery, located on the right side of the square of the Virgin Mary, is dedicated to the saints - the founders of various religious institutions that have been associated with the monastery of Montserrat throughout history.

Cost of visit, address of the monastery

Entrance fee - free, museum visit €7.00, Teleférico return trip €10.0, BUS PLANA tour €35.0.
Address of the monastery: Spain, Monasterio de Montserrat, 08199, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, GPS: 41.593549,1.836798 , plan a tour, make purchases in the store. The famous monastery is located 60 kilometers from Barcelona.

What to buy as a keepsake

Shops are open for tourists and visitors, where you can buy local products: various sweets, nuts, cheeses, jamons, delicacies, wines, liquors.

Many people buy the famous Montserrat walnut liqueur from Catalonia, Spain, which tastes different from other liquors due to its viscosity, a special taste when snacking on sheep or goat cheese. In the manufacture of liqueurs, the monks do not use grape juice, only local berries, nuts, and herbs. Whoever wants, he can take away the picture as a keepsake. reproductions, albums and small figurines of the Black Madonna.