Barcelona, Day 4

Tuesday, June 2nd:

Today we journey to Montserrat (Serrated Mountain) to visit the monastery/basilica at the approximately 2,400 ft level of this 4,000 foot mountain rising abruptly from the Barcelona Plain just NW of Barcelona.  This is a pilgrimage area in Spain with thousands traveling here to see and touch the Black Virgin (medieval statue), the patron saint of Catalonia.  We arrived around 10:00 am and gathered at an overlook to view the pathway to several of the chapels that lead to the Holy Grotto, which is the alleged site of the discovery of the Black Virgin in the late 12^th century.  Carbon dating indicates the statue is 800 years old.  There has been a church and monastery here since the 11^th century. Along the way toward the basilica we past the funicular entrance where funiculars to the top (Joan Funicular) or to the Holy Grotto (Cava Funicular) can be accessed.  From there we walked to the Placa de Santa Maria, where there is the entrance to the Museu de Montserrat that contains ecclesiastical paintings along with donated works by Picasso, Dali, Monet, Sisley, and Degas.  Most of the artwork has been donated by devote Catalan Catholics. 

The façade of the basilica contains a relief of Mary.  Below her to the left is St. Benedict who established the rules that govern Montserrat’s monastery, which is Benedictine.  St. George, the symbol of Catalunya, is below her on the right.  The central arch leads into the basilica’s courtyard.  Because a 11:30 am mass was just beginning, we could not enter the basilica until after noon.    The concert by the Boy’s choir (established in the 13^th century) occurs at 1 pm, but you must arrive ½ an hour earlier to get a seat.

I decided to hike to the Sant Miguel promontory overlook that contains a large iron cross and gives clear 300^o vistas of the area.  The hike took about 20 minutes and the views were spectacular.  Beverley decided to visit the Museu de Montserrat during my hike.  Once back at the monastery, I decided to get a seat for the Boys Choir concert, which began promptly at 1 pm.  Their performance last only 10 minutes, but was very good. 

We stopped at a cafeteria to get a small lunch before heading back to the gathering area for our ride back to Barcelona.  After going to the hotel we ventured out around 5 pm to take the subway to Old Town to walk and then get a tapas dinner.  Returning to the hotel at 8:30 pm, we packed our suitcases to have them ready for a 6 am pick-up and loading onto the bus.  Tomorrow we take the high speed train to Seville where we will be for 5 nights.