This was my last full day in Barcelona and consisted of a half day tour to beautiful Montserrat. Luckily, I had already found out where the redemption place was, so my early start made for quite a straightforward journey in the chilly early morning when it was still dark!
Montserrat is about an hour’s drive out of the centre of Barcelona, and the entire trip lasted for around 5.5 hours. Montserrat (or Sawtooth Mountain, as it is known) is a multi-peaked mountain range that is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range: Sant Jeroni, Montgros, and Les Agulles. The mountain has an unusual semi-rock formation that resembles sandcastles. The mountain is also famous for the site of the Benedictine monastery (Santa Maria de Montserrat) that houses the Black Madonna.
The route to Montserrat soon became light and quite scenic with a few bends to endure before finally arriving at the drop-off point. The day was perfect with clear blue skies that really showcased the stunning scenery up there - definitely worth a visit if you take a trip to Barcelona. The first part of the trip involved boarding the cog-wheel train to take us up to the monastery. Once up there you have a few things to do on your own after you have visited the Black Madonna. We had priority tickets that allowed us the viewing of the Madonna early on, and it is best to get here early as it did start to get quite busy by the middle of the day - even though this was a less busy time of the year.
We had to queue up for a short time to get to see the glory of the Madonna, but the wait was worth it. The Madonna sits at the back of the bascilica, looking down on the altar, on an ornate seat of Venetian mosaics behind a glass case. One of her hands is holding a sphere which symbolises the universe and is not behind the glass. Tradition says that you should touch or kiss the hand and make a wish while opening out your other hand to Jesus. You may not, like me, be particularly religious and find the prospect of this a little out of your comfort zone but believe me when I say that this was a truly spiritual experience that I would not have wanted to miss. The Madonna is a wooden sculpture that was believed to have been carved in Jerusalem and is one of the most famous statues in the world. The Madonna was declared the Virgin of Montserrat in 1844 by Pope Leo XIII. Black Madonnas can also be seen in other parts of the world, but this is the most famous one. The name ‘Black Madonna’ does not refer to anything other than the fact that the Madonna has merely darkened over time. Before viewing the Madonna, we were given a tour around the Basilica with some earphones so that we could hear the tour guide clearly, and after the viewing we were able to wander around on our own to discover the amazing architecture.
Montserrat also offers a host of other activities which you can do whilst up there and were all included in the tour price. You get about 2 hours to spend doing your own thing after visiting the Black Madonna. There were mountain paths that allowed a good walk, although quite steep on the way out, and offered breathtaking views across the mountains. You could walk as much or as little as you wanted. The walk I did took about an hour in total and took me to St. Michael’s cross which offers the best views across the valley and of the monastery.
There were also some lovely gift shops, and liquor tasting was available where you could sample a selection of liquors. Anyone who didn’t want to sample these could get a bag of biscotti biscuits instead. Other activities included a short film viewing, a ride on the funicular (extra cost) and a relaxing sit down in the café. I actually managed to get a little packed lunch from my hotel, as I was out too early for breakfast, and I sat out in the lovely sunshine to enjoy it.
The good news about this trip starting early and only being half a day was that I got back in the early afternoon, and this gave me the opportunity to go somewhere for a nice drink and have some relaxation before my flight home the following morning.
So, if you haven’t taken a trip to Barcelona its time to take yourself off there, but, wherever you do decide to go in 2025, I hope your travels are amazing and memorable for all the right reasons. Don’t forget to follow me on my travels this year – watch this space…
