A Day Trip From Barcelona
If you are visiting Barcelona, Spain, we would recommend that you save a day for a trip to Montserrat. The mountain is home to great hiking trails, grand vistas along with a Basilica, monastery, convents, restaurants and two hotels.
Spending time in Barcelona? Take a day trip to Montserrat Mountain. Start at the Plaza Espanya train station in Barcelona. The train station is in the same building as a metro station so it’s easy to get to. Follow signs for the R5 train which runs ever fifty minutes or so. The train will take you to stations at the foot of the mountain but, before buying tickets, you will need to decide whether you would like to travel up Montserrat Mountain by Cable Car or by the Rack Railway . There are agents selling combination tickets who can help you decide, so ask them for advice. You also need to confirm which station to exit based on your choice.
The mountain of Montserrat would be worth a visit if it was only a geological
spectacle and that alone draws hikers and rock climbers from around the world. It has also been a religious site from the days of the Roman Empire with a temple to Venus having been built there more than two thousand years ago. Since 888 AD there has been the Christian sanctuary of the Virgin Mary of Montserrat and, in 1025, Oliba, Bishop of Vic, founded a larger monastery at the hermitage of Santa Maria de Montserrat. The monastery soon began receiving pilgrims and visitors who contributed to the spread of stories of miracles and wonders
performed by the Virgin. In 1409 the monastery of Montserrat became an abbey and from 1493 to 1835, the monastery underwent numerous improvements, growing and increasing in splendor.
During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Monastery of Montserrat became a cultural centre with The Montserrat Music School producing a number of significant composers. From the early nineteenth century on the Monastery was abandoned, rebuilt and restored a number of times because of the French War and the Spanish Civil War. Today, Montserrat is again a cultural and religious center welcoming pilgrims and tourists.
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