On our last day in Barcelona, we took a train out to the mountain of Montserrat. Montserrat literally means "jagged mountain" in Catalan. It was spectacular as we approached in the early morning. The mountain is composed of striking pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock.
Fifty years after the birth of Christ, St Peter is said to have deposited an image of the Virgin carved by St Luke in one of the mountain caves. It was supposedly lost in the 8th century after being hidden during the Muslim invasion. It reappeared in 880 and a chapel was built to house it, superseded in 976 by a Benedictine monastery set about three quarters of the way up the mountain at about 1000m. Miracles abounded and the Virgin of Montserrat soon became the chief cult image of Catalunya and a pilgrimage center.
The path to Santa Cova, a 17th century chapel built where the icon is said to have been found originally.
The monastery.
Chapel at Sant Joan.
This was from a trek that we did on Bob's birthday. We walked from the small city of Olot, through an extinct chain of volcanoes to the charming village of Santa Pau.
Oh, yeah and we are now engaged!
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