Montserrat Monastery: The Trip of a Lifetime

When you travel, do you plan trips around visiting monasteries or convents? Probably not. In fact, it’s probably not even on your top 50 things to do on a trip. But if you ever plan a trip based on the cultural heritage, scenic views, and impressive aura of a place, plan it around Montserrat Monastery.

The Montserrat Monastery, located high up in the uniquely-shaped Montserrat Mountains

A Little History

The first mention of Montserrat Monastery was in 880 AD. Hermit monks built various hermitages in the mountains of Montserrat, and in 1025 AD the hermitage of Santa Maria founded the monastery.

Montserrat Monastery is an important symbol of Catalan history. In 1811 and 1812, the Abbey of Montserrat burned down twice and sacked by Napoleon’s troops. The Spanish Civil War saw the Abbey greatly suppressed and the monks were forced to leave the Monastery; also during this time, 23 monks were killed. During the government’s language policies restricting Catalunya to use only Spanish, masses at Montserrat Monastery were still held in Catalan. The Abbey also continued to publish children’s publications, religious and cultural journals, religious books, and press in Catalan, defying the government’s rules.

The Black Madonna isn't a small statue, so the monks and shepherds who carried it up the Montserrat Mountain must have struggled a bit. You can visit the original site of the Black Madonna in the Santa Cova grotto, or see it today in the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey. — The Black Madonna isn’t a small statue, so the monks and shepherds who carried it up the Montserrat Mountain must have struggled a bit. You can visit the original site of the Black Madonna in the Santa Cova grotto, or see it today in the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey.

According to legend, carved the Black Virgin of Montserrat in 50 AD and brought it to Spain. It was hidden from the Moors in a cave, where it was rediscovered by shepherds in 880 AD. The statue was so heavy that it could not be moved from the Montserrat mountains, and thus indicated her wish to stay there to be honored by all those wishing to make the journey. Since the 12th century, pilgrims have been drawn to Montserrat Monastery to pay homage to the miraculous statue of the Black Madonna (La Moreneta).

Right in the center of the photo is a small building about halfway up the mountain. This is the Santa Cova grotto, where the original statue of the Black Madonna was found in 880 AD.

The Basilica of Montserrat

The Basilica of Montserrat has undergone many changes since its original inhabitants found the Black Madonna in the Santa Cova, or Holy Grotto nearby.

The entrance to the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey

The Gothic building is of great architectural significance. The atrium is the open-air courtyard in front of the church. Once you pass through five arches, you will come across a statue of St. Benedict, marking the entrance to the monks’ quarters. Designs on the walls of the atrium depict shrines and basilicas in Christianity and a history of Montserrat. The marbled black and white floor was inspired by Michelangelo’s work in the Capitolium in Rome. Above the entrance to the church, you may recognize some important figures in history.

The entrance to the Abbey is just as impressive as the inside!

The church itself is home to Montserrat’s masses and choral concerts. It also houses the statue of the Black Madonna. There are chapels all around the edges of the basilica, where you can find sculptures, stained glass windows, paintings, and Catalan architecture. The statue of the Black Madonna is at the back of the church framed in an ornate window high above the altar, but you can see her if you are sitting in the pews.

In the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey, you can attend mass, hear the choir boys sing, see the Black Madonna up close (in the window above the altar), or just sit in the pews and feel a heavenly presence.

Other Things to Do in Montserrat

After admiring the basilica and courtyard of the Montserrat Monastery, take a stroll through the hiking trails up the mountain.

St. Michael's Path will take you to some beautiful locations where you can look out over Catalunya below. — St. Michael’s Path will take you to some beautiful locations where you can look out over Catalunya below.

The trail to St. Michael’s Cross isn’t strenuous and doesn’t take long to hike, although leaving the monastery, the path is uphill. Take St. Michael’s Path towards the cross; the hike is about 25 minutes with beautiful views along the way. St. Michael’s Cross has the best views of the monastery, mountains, and valleys below.

The view of the Montserrat Monastery under the mountains from St. Michael's Cross

From the monastery, you can take the Sant Joan Funicular another 985 feet (300 meters) up to the peak of Montserrat. The funicular goes almost straight up to the peak of the mountain! There are several good hiking trails at the top that lead through a nature park, and you will see some of the best views from Catalonia up here.

The religious shrine of the Santa Cova, or “The Holy Grotto,” is a popular hiking destination for pilgrims to Montserrat. Legend says that shepherd children in 880 AD discovered the Black Madonna, or the image of the Mother of God, at Santa Cova. The Santa Cova grotto is located down the Montserrat Mountain a ways. You can walk from the monastery or take the Funicular de Santa Cova and walk to the chapel and grotto.

A replica of the Black Madonna, found in the monastery's gift shop — A replica of the Black Madonna, found in the monastery’s gift shop

Another popular Instagram location is the Stairway To Heaven sculpture. It doesn’t have much significance to the monastery and tours won’t even point it out to groups, but it has gained popularity with photographers. You used to be able to climb the stairs and create the illusion you climbed to the top of the world! Recently, due to people falling off the “stairs,” the monastery put a gate around it. It still makes for a cool picture, if you can crop the gate out.

The Stairway to Heaven sculpture is a popular Instagram spot. You used to be able to climb it and look like you had climbed up to Heaven! But too many people fell off it, so they gated it and now you can just admire it from afar.

The Montserrat Museum hosts works from Picasso, Dali, and Caravaggio. There are six permanent collections and over 1,300 pieces. The museum showcases some of the most outstanding archaeological and artistic works from a vast chronological period at the Abbey de Montserrat.

Each day, vendors set up a flea market along the walkway from the car park to the monastery. They sell soaps, cheese, chocolates, and other trinkets and souvenirs. Some will offer you a free sample if you seem interested! Many of the chocolates are made by the cloistered nuns nearby.

Getting to Montserrat

There are different ways to get too Montserrat. As a solo traveler who had never been to Montserrat before, I decided to go with a bus tour for a more personalized experience and local knowledge.

View of the unique Montserrat Mountains from the bus. Don't mind the guy's head in the way — View of the unique Montserrat Mountains from the bus. Don’t mind the guy’s head in the way

Castlexperience Montserrat and Wine Small Group Tour met at the Plaza de Catalunya, where we met our guide, Silvia. We took a bus about 30 minutes to the bottom of the Montserrat mountains, then another 15-20 minutes up the mountains to the monastery at the top. From there, we had free time to explore the Abbey and museum, hike the trains, take the funiculars, or just enjoy the sights.

Taking the tour gave us the option to have Spanish tapas in a castle and try the local Spanish wines!

After leaving, the tour took us down to Manresa, where we visited a winery inside an old Spanish castle, with the Montserrat mountains as a backdrop. After eating tapas and tasting local wine, the tour took us back to Barcelona by bus. We were back in Barcelona by 3:00 pm.

Impressive view of the Monastery under the Montserrat Mountains

Another option for visiting Montserrat is by train. Just the train ticket itself costs 5€ – 8€ and takes an hour. It leaves every hour from Plaza Espanya. Once you get to Montserrat, you will need to either hike up the mountain, take the cable car, which takes about 5 minutes and costs 10.30€ roundtrip, or take the railway from the bottom of the mountain up to the monastery, which about 15 minutes and costs 10€ roundtrip. For more information on both the cable car and railway, click here.

Alternatively, the TOT Montserrat ticket includes:
– two metro rides (to get to and from Plaza Espanya)
– roundtrip train ticket from Barcelona to Montserrat
– roundtrip cable car ride up to the monastery
– unlimited rides on both funiculars
– entrance to the audiovisual exhibit “Montserrat Behind Closed Doors”
– admission to the Montserrat museum
– lunch at the Montserrat self-service restaurant

The price of the TOT Montserrat ticket is 50.95€. There is a cheaper option for 31.60€ that provides all the same options without entrance to the museum or lunch. You can buy a TOT all-in-one pass in the Plaza Catalunya daily from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm and the Plaza de Espanya from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. You can also buy the passes online: 50.95€ or 31.60€.

By bus, make sure you take note of the times the bus leaves to and from Montserrat. There is only one departure each way each day: leaving the Barcelona Sants train station at 9:15 am, and leaving Montserrat monastery at 5:00 pm October to May or 6:00 pm June to September. It takes an hour and 25 minutes by bus, and costs €10.20 roundtrip.

Finally, by car it takes about an hour and will cost 10€ in gas and parking fees; there are no tolls along the road. The best route is the A-2 highway to Carretera Manresa/C-55. You’ll be on A-2 for 35 km. Take exit 582A from A-2 to get on C-55 for 21 km. Then just follow the signs up to the Monastery. Parking at the Monastery costs 6.50€ for the day, or you can park at the railways station at the bottom of the mountain for free and take the railway up.

The views from St. Michael's Cross, looking out over Catalunya

Have you been to Montserrat? Would visiting this ancient and impressive monastery be on your list when you visit Barcelona? What draws you most to Montserrat? Tell me in the comments below!

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