Montserrat

Tue 25 Apr

Happy birthday to my dad, Jim. We're sorry we can't be there to celebrate your 86th birthday but will catch up soon.

We booked a bus tour to go to Montserrat (Serrated Mountain) about an hour out of Barcelona. The mountain itself is a spectacularly weathered landscape that dominates the local area and accommodates a national park with many opportunities for bushwalking, climbing and abseiling. It's main attraction, however, is religious.

A Black Madonna was discovered in one of the many caves in the mountain and was eventually housed in a Benedictine Monastery that was set up on the mountain. Some of the monks here decided that a hermetic life was better and took themselves off into the mountain caves to live a more ascetic lifestyle. Chapels have since been built at some of these cave sites.

Monastery and church perched in the mountain

The monastery, perched precariously on the side of the mountain, houses about 70 monks and is an important religious retreat for Catalonians. The church now containing the Black Madonna is large and ostentatiously decorated in mosaics and gilt statues. There is a boys choir that is schooled at the monastery and performs for pilgrims (and ordinary visitors) in the church each day.

The Black Madonna

Sculpture of the 12 apostles and Jesus - part of the facade of the Montserrat Basilica

The trip included a ride in the Sant Joan Funicular, one of the steepest I've seen, taking us from 700m to 1000m above sea level. We then walked a bit further up the mountain to see some of the hermits' chapels before beginning a 50 minute trek back down to the monastery. I think my thigh muscles will be feeling it tomorrow.

The funicular track

Looking forward to paella and sangria tonight. Lesley heads back to the UK in the morning; we have a couple more days in Barça.