Montserrat

I started the new year with an early morning excursion to Montserrat. The name means serrated mountain and it is located about an hour drive northwest of Barcelona.  It was so early and the temperatures are so different from the coastal area that there was quite a bit of fog surrounding the mountain. We drove up the mountain on winding roads in total fog until we neared the top and we could see clear skies.

There is a monastery located near the top that was first established in 888 AD after the Count of Barcelona donated the land for its construction.  The nearly 50 monks that currently live at Montserrat have rooms in the tower at the front right of the photo below.

The monastery has been enlarged and renovated over the years. Its largest when Napoleon's troops sacked and burned it in 1811 AD, destroying many of its records.  The basilica façade (below) was completed in 1901 AD and the buildings on either side were the rooms of the monks. When the number of monks declined, they moved to the tower.

The monks are part of the Benedictine Order.  Below is a statue of St. Benedict that stands just outside of the atrium entrance to the basilica.  I was not able to enter the basilica because they had just started mass when we arrived.

During the Middle Ages, the monks maintained a library of ancient texts from thee Greek and Roman periods. The monks would work daily to reproduce and preserve these ancient texts.  The buildings in the picture below are part of that spirit of preservation. While I was not able to visit the library today. 😢 I was able to visit the art museum that contained works from Picasso, Monet, Salvador Dali, Caravaggio, Dega, and Catalan artists such as Ramon Marti Alsina and Joaquim Vayreda.  It may seem strange to find such an exhibit of artists in a monastery, but the works were donated to the monks for the purpose of maintaining the monastery.  The museum was in the building below.

To take the photo above, I was standing in the middle of the Placa de La Creu (Square of the Cross).  The arched wall below marks the second side of the square and the entrance to the basilica finishes the square.  It was designed to separate the basilica from the outbuildings that provide services to visitors.  It also frames the view of the mountain visible in the second photo below.

Once the fog began to clear, the el Llothregat River can be seen in the valley between the mountains.

On the way back to Barcelona, we were able to get a good view of Montserrat.  The distinctive look of the mountain that provides its name is caused naturally in two ways. Water erosion and vertical fractures that allow water to form caves and potholes. There are many nicknames for different formations including needles, fingers, and sometimes they see animal and people shapes in the rocks!