The mountain of Montserrat

Montserrat is much more than a mountain in Catalonia, it is a symbol for all those who love Catalonia and want to know more about its culture. Montserrat is an extraordinary natural park with marked trails, it is a monastery with an active community of monks and a school choir known throughout.  There is a museum with paintings, jewellery and sculpture. Montserrat is the Sanctuary of “La Mare de Déu de Montserrat, La Moreneta “(the virgin of Montserrat, The Black Madonna), the patron saint of Catalonia. Thousands of people come yearly in pilgrimage to visit the virgin, together with many tourists.

The mountain is located at 50 Km northwest of Barcelona between the regions of the Anoia, the Bajo Llobregat and Bages.      

Montserrat Mountain is an isolated mountain of great uniqueness for its geomorphology. It is a steep rock formation with numerous cliffs in which people practice climbing. A place where you can spend hours looking at beautiful sites, beautiful paths and amazing scenery. This mountain of rocks can be described as “magic” for several reasons, but certainly the way and where it stands are one of the reasons. In reality, this is one of the most impressive mythical Catalán places in the whole of Catalonia. It is a mountain that somebody once called “sea of rocks”.       

Mountain of Montserrat

Montserrat Natural Park has a wealth of flora and fauna, typical of the Mediterranean climate. When you venture into its paths you discover that the vegetation is dense and fauna live wildly. Big trees live there together with aromatic herbs such as rosemary and the popular thyme. Loads of mammals, reptiles, birds and occasionally birds of prey live there too.

Montserrat means in Catalán “saw-like mountain” and, in fact, this natural saw seems to drill the earth from below. In the middle, is the monastery where you can visit the “Black Madonna” and also delight your ears with the children’s choir “The Virolai” (take a minute to listen to it – it is enchanting). I advise you to be patient when visiting the virgin, as there are normally queues of hundreds of people.

The Monastery and La Moreneta



If you like hiking, from this point begin countless routes with breath-taking views. You can also take the funicular to go to the top of the mountain to begin your route.

The highest peak of the mountain is the “Sant Jeroni” with 1,236 meters. The mountain is about 10 Km long and about 5 Km wide, and covers a perimeter of 45 square kilometres.

Human presence dates back to the Neolithic era, although its big moment came in the tenth century, when many hermits arrived and settled in the farthest reaches of the mountain. Since then, Montserrat has had a religious aura, enhanced by its Sanctuary and the famous Virgin of Montserrat, “The Black Maddonna”, patroness of Catalonia.

RMP