Montserrat is a Benedictine Monastery, perched 800m up a granite massif of quite stunning appearance. It is an hour’s train ride inland from Barcelona (so think Gold Coast to Brisbane). A winding rack railway lifts you from the plain to this mountain eyrie, and the temperature dropped from 17C to 7.8C on the way. (My new jacket worked well!)
Why the fascination with building monasteries and churches in such isolated and difficult-to-get-to places eludes me: but carting brick and all that goes into such a place back in those early centuries must have been a massive task. We are the beneficiaries of their faith. The main attraction here is the Black Madonna of Montserrat, painted wood carving that is enthroned high above the main altar of the basilica. You join a queue that slowly climbs a narrow passageway behind the church, and you emerge before the Madonna where you have about 10 seconds to touch the globe she holds in her hand and say your prayer. Plenty of shoving from behind to keep you moving! Then you leave the shrine by way of the Rosary lane, lined with racks to hold your €2.10 candles and prayer intentions. The high school kids thought it was hilarious!
Yes, the place was teeming with tourists, most of whom seemed to be cigarette-smoking high school groups from all over Europe. Why they come I am not sure – religion didn’t seem to have much to do with it. It is near end of school year, so maybe excursions are a way to fill in the last few weeks. The monks try to keep the shrine prayerful with “Silence please” signs everywhere: but it is in reality a huge commercial venture, with hotels, restaurants, museum, souvenir shop etc… all keeping the cash registers ringing.
It remains however one of the great European centres of pilgrimage, and draws over a million visitors a year. I am not sorry I took time to go have a look and say a prayer.
Doing the washing now and getting ready to pack for an early departure in the morning from Barcelona to my next port of call, Carcassonne.
Today’s pics can be seen here.
2 comments:
Hi Ron
Sounds like you're off to a great start on the trip. Don't want to scare you, but you may want to invest in some more warm clothes - look what I just read: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/9213226/Coldest-May-in-100-years-forecasters-predict.html
Look forward to the next installments!
Katie
Thanks for the warning Katie! I think my shorts will be staying at the bottom of the suitcase!
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