Barcelona Off The Beaten Path Tips by martin_nl

Monestir de Montserrat Day Trip: Montserrat Review

The Montserrat mountain from which the top is 1236 metres high is home of the monastery of Montserrat.The first time there is spoeken about this monastery is in the 9th century. Montserrat was destroyed in 1811 when the French invaded Catalunya. In 1844 the monastery was rebuilt.Everyday you can hear the Escalonia Choir sing the 'Virolai' at 13:00 and the 'Salve Regina' at 19:10.

The monastery is surrounded with a lot of peace and quietness. You will hardly hear anything while being on this mountain. The main attractions of Montserrat are the 'Black Madonna' and the 'Basilica' it is in. In the summertime there are a lot of people that want to visit Montserrat, so there are very long queues in front of the Madonna. I visited in wintertime and we were amongst the few visitors. There is also a museum with a lot of 19th and 20th century Catalan paintings.

You should really take a whole day to visit Montserrat. To start with the train only goes once an hour from Plaça d'Espanya to Aeri de Montserrat. Then you have to take the cable car up to the mountain. So travelling already takes upp quite some time. If you really want to see everything on the mountain you just need a whole day. But it's worth it.