This dramatically situated monastery has been Catalunya’s most important pilgrimage site for a thousand years.
This is how we got there: first we took a train from Placa d’Espanya:
Then, the little German-built cable car:
According to the local tradition, in medieval times, some shepherd children saw lights and heard songs coming from the mountain. They traced the sounds to a cave (now called Sacred Cave), where they found the Black Virgin statue – La Moreneta, making the local monastery a pilgrim destination.
The main focus in the Basilica is on La Moreneta – the statue of the Black Virgin, discovered in the Sacred Cave in the 12th century. Pilgrims line up patiently to be able to touch the hand of Virgin Mary.
Ignatius Loyola was here in March 1522.
You can easily spend a full day in Montserrat. It is a very unique place.
That cable car is so cool!