Montserrat

Saturday, March 3, 2012

On a Thursday (March 1) afternoon, my roommate and I didn't have any plans for the weekend and we decided to sign up for the IES trip to Montserrat.  I am studying abroad through the program of IES.  We signed up for this day trip to Montserrat because we heard about the amazing views and mountains, and the monastery in Montserrat.  Montserrat translated means serrated mountain.  To get to Montserrat we took a bus from Barcelona with other IES students.  Montserrat hosts the Virgin of Montserrat and a publishing house which is one of the oldest printing presses (first book published in 1499) in the world that is still used today.  The Virgin of Montserrat (the black virgin), is Catalonia's favorite saint.  The monastery is considered Catalonia's most important retreat and groups of young people from Barcelona take overnight hikes to watch the sunrise.  After winning the world cup for Spain, Carlos Puyol, captain of FC Barcelona, walked to Montserrat from Barcelona to give thanks for winning the world cup for the country of Spain.

Once we arrived we were on the level of the monastery.  Here are a couple of pictures of the monastery in Montserrat.

As you can see from above, words do not do justice to describe the beauty of Montserrat, you have to be there to believe it.  We were permitted about thirty-fourty-five minutes to walk around.  After walking around the main level of the town, we took a trolley up to the top of the mountain.  Below you can see my view on the way up the trolley to the top of the mountain of Montserrat.

After arriving to the top of the mountain we were permitted time to explore and walk around.  My roommate and I just walked around to see the gorgeous views from the mountain.  Below are a couple of photos that depict what we saw when walking around.

We were then matched up with a tour guide who took us to the top of the mountain and provided us with valuable information about Montserrat.

If you look closely at the picture above you can see an outline of an elephant and a pharaoh on the mountains.

One of the churches throughout the town of Montserrat.

A better picture of the elephant (left) and the pharaoh (middle).

The Basilica at Montserrat houses works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors inluding: El Greco, Dali, and Picasso.  

Inside the Basilica of Montserrat.

Below I have include some pictures of the breathtaking views of Montserrat.  At 1236 meters above the valley floor, Montserrat is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands and is central to the most populated part of Catalonia.