Ah, Montserrat, one of the first stops of Saint Ignatius of Loyola following his conversion. Here he laid his sword down at the
Basilica so famous for the statue of the black Virgin Mary, which has a cult following in Spain. Here you see the gondola
that travels up and down along the mountainside, the easiest way to get up to the main sights after the easy train
trip from Barcelona. The name of the Mountain is Montserrat, meaning serrated or cut mountain...a very fitting name due to the
terrain of the mountain.
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Looking out over the countryside away from Montserrat
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Here we are, on the mountain, quite the little town up here.
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We're not in Kansas anymore, I can't say as I've ever seen a beer vending machine before, you saw it first here... Even better, this is the
good stuff, it must be if it's called Damm Beer. The cost - 1.50 euro, cans are usually much smaller in Europe than in America.
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Who could forget good old Abat Oliba, the founder of the Monastery at Montserrat
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Yep, 12 guys and God...the normal drill
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There's a statue commemorating Ignatius' visit
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And a nice plaque
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Another view of the Basilica
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There were no photos (or noise for that matter) allowed in the Basilica. In fact, they had lots of little signs that flashed on and off
with "Silence" in many different languages. When you first entered the Basilica at the front you stood in a glass room before entering, so I
assumed photos were allowed from there, considering it was nearly soundproof. So, here's your photo of the Basilica of Montserrat. At the
back center, in a room back a bit and above the altar is the statue that is one of the claims to fame of Montserrat. I did visit the statue,
but considering there were no photos allowed, didn't get anything inside the Church. Besides, other people were taking photos, and the statue is
surrounded by silver, which nicely distributes the flash from their cameras ACROSS the entire Basilica...not very nonchalant.
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The courtyard just outside the Basilica.
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After going up to see the statue of the Virgin Mary, you can pay for a candle, light it, and place it along a wall. But, after you carefully
place the candle, a few nice men come along, pick up all the candles and aggregate them in an orderly area...I suppose prayer isn't quite efficient enough
for them...
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You can't imagine how many tourist-looking people I had to wait to finish to find somebody cute/honest enough to get a good "I'm putting
this candle here" photo
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I don't know if this is a special spring or anything, but this lady seems to think it's good enough to use to refill her
water bottle.
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More candles...
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An arch over a side-entrance to the Basilica
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The serrated mountains in the background
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More of the countryside
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I would have walked all the way across to this cross, but it was a long way, and I didn't have all day, so this photo should suffice. In
the foreground are the cables for the gondola.
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A gondola travels up the mountain as a small shrine sits below
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Montserrat, from below
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The Jewish Mountain of Barcelona lies ahead...
