AN INTERESTING and enjoyable day trip alternative to the many attractions of Barcelona is to the mountain monastery at Montserrat… home of the famous Black Madonna.
Visitors have two options, a one-hour train journey and cable car up to the monastery, or the train and rack railway combination.
We took the rack railway option which connects with the train from Barcelona, and it offers a really pleasant and scenic 23-minute trip with great views of the mountains and the valleys below. However, the cable car I’m told has even more dramatic views but in fact wasn’t operating on the day we visited.
Both the rack railway and cable car take you to the monastery, which along with a museum, hotel accommodation and a couple of restaurants/cafes can also be accessed by road.
However, to reach the peaks above the monastery, you either have to take the St Joan Funicular or alternatively, use the tougher option, by making the climb by pathway on foot.
It’s better to use the Funicular and save your energy for the wonderful walks which await you at the top as well as an abundance of really stunning mountain scenery. The Funicular also provides a starting point to reach the various peaks and religious sites accessed regularly by the monks for prayer and meditation. It was more than 30 degrees on the day we visited, and in such conditions you need to take plenty of liquids to sustain you.
Much of the walks can be tackled by people of normal fitness ability, but be warned some of the routes degenerate into rather difficult terrain with lot of scrambling over rocks and boulders, and are definitely not suitable for everyone. And of course there is also an element of danger for the unwary.
I just about managed four or five kilometres of walking and surprised myself by making it to the top of one of the peaks, despite being on the waiting list for a knee replacement surgery, but was glad I did when the stupendous view unfolded beneath our feet.
Anyway, the watchword is ‘be careful’, especially when you do get the top of some of the granite outcrops, and don’t overestimate your own capabilities.
After three or four hours walking and climbing we returned down to the monastery by Funicular where the big attraction was the Black Madonna.
Whether you are religious or not, visiting the Black Madonna or Black Virgin of Montserrat is a spiritual and worthwhile experience. You will join a snaking queue with hundreds of other visitors, many of whom have come as pilgrims to the statue – and you can feel the electric religious atmosphere as you wait in line. The length of the queue varies but is usually slow moving depending on the date and the time of year of your visit.
The stairway leading to the statue, plus the room and altar in which the statue sits are ornate, golden and pay tribute to the wonder that is the Virgin herself.
The statue of the Black Madonna, sometimes referred to as ‘La Moreneta’ sits behind a sheet of glass. However, one of her hands that is holding a sphere (which symbolises the universe) is not behind the glass. It is tradition for pilgrims to kiss or touch the Virgin’s hand while opening out their other hand to Jesus.
Originally known as La Jerosolimitana, the statue was thought to have been fashioned in Jerusalem during the earliest times of the Christian Church. The Black Virgin of Montserrat was given to the Bishop of Barcelona in the 7th century, who brought it to Spain. When the Saracens invaded and then eventually, when it became obvious that Barcelona could no longer hold out, a group of citizens removed the statue from the city and in the year 718 hid it in a cave at Montserrat.
It was discovered when a group of shepherd boys reported seeing lights and hearing singing on the mountainside. They reported this to the village priest and subsequent investigations led to the discovery of the statue which was brought down from the cave and a small church was then built to house it.
The ecclesiastical infrastructure that later developed – the monastery and the basilica – were fashioned entirely to facilitate the worship of the Black Virgin of Montserrat
and was completed in 1592.
It takes about an hour to get to Montserrat from España rail station in Barcelona, which is on the green and red Metro lines making it accessible from any part of the city centre that has a Metro stop. Once at España look for Line R5 headed towards Manresa. You take the train from Plaça España to either the starting point to take the Cable Car ride (Aeri) or the starting point for the Rack Railway (Cremallera) which are at the foot of Montserrat mountain. You would then need to add another 23 minutes to the journey time for the cable car or rack railway up the mountain before you are arrive at Montserrat monastery.
Tickets are purchased at Plaça España station from ticket booths just in front of Line R5 to Manresa. You will find attendants there that will explain the ticket prices to you. They speak English, Spanish and Catalan, but make sure you know which ticket option you require and that you buy the correct one.
The 'Travel' Life of Brian 