In the heart of Catalonia is an unusualspecies mountain range montserrat. Spain is rich in beautiful places with distinctive culture and traditions, but this peak is special. Every year, it is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists and pilgrims, throughout its history many great historical figures visited it. Frozen huge idols, castles of wet sand, the teeth of a bloodthirsty monster - all this is Mount Montserrat. Spain can hardly boast a more visited place than this.
By itself, the mountain attracts attention becauseits weathered and bare rocks are a great place for climbers to train. In 1987, Montserrat was granted the status of a national natural park in order to preserve the unique flora and fauna, the local landscape. The name of the peak from Spanish is translated as “closed mountain”. Perhaps this is due to the unusual shape of the Montserrat ridge. Spain annually receives millions of tourists, and a significant part of them come to Catalonia. The mountain was known in pre-Christian times and enjoyed great respect from the locals.
It received a special status in 1025, whenAbbé Oliba built a monastery here. Although before it, Catholic chapels dating back to the 9th century were erected in mountain areas. Olib was a talented architect, he made a great contribution to the development of Catalan architecture, adding to its elements of Lombard style. Since that time, the monastery was repeatedly rebuilt, since it was destroyed during the wars, the last buildings were erected already in the early twentieth century.
To date, there are three waysclimb to the top of montserrat. Spain is a tourist country that cares about the comfort of foreign guests, so it has created all the conditions for a comfortable ascent to the monastery. Believers ascend and descend on foot, they apologize for their transgressions and beg for help the patroness of Catalonia, the Black Madonna. Montserrat can also be reached by car: there is an excellent, large and free car park near the foot. But the best way is a train and a funicular. Having chosen it, the tourist will quickly get to the desired place and will be able to view the surroundings from a bird's eye view.
What, besides stately beauty, so attractstourists and just having a rest mountain montserrat? Spain is a deeply religious country, therefore it is very sensitive to icons, statues, frescoes or structures. In 880, a statue of the Black Madonna and Child was discovered in one of the caves of the mountain mentioned above. Then a chapel was built at this place, and the clergy moved the find to a church erected a little higher. As it happened, no one can say, but the statue constantly returned to its original place, where it was finally left. It is this shrine and is the main subject of pilgrimage.
Black Madonna helps to find a chosen one, createstrong family and know the joy of motherhood, so many girls, women and young couples go back to Montserrat. Spain (how to get to the patroness of Catalonia, prompted by locals and guides) will not leave anyone indifferent, this country has a rich history, unique culture and traditions. A visit to Montserrat, the monastery and the bow of the Black Madonna will surely leave only positive memories.
