Montserrat...

My last full day in Barcelona was spent at the Monestir  (Monastery) de Montserrat (serrated mountain). About an hour by train west of Barcelona, climbing slowly to the small station of Monistrol de Monserrat where we transferred to cable car. Montserrat itself is the most amazing landscape of high rock pillars, once under the sea. (If it were New Zealand you would expect it to be a volcanic landscape). The cable car takes visitors up to the Monastery. As well as the fascination of the lunar landscape and the cable car access, there is the location of the Monastery and associated buildings literally on the narrow edge of a mountain. I love buildings in inaccessible places. The hermit in me maybe. And they are usually aesthetically stunning.

This is a place of pilgrimage for Catalans – to see and touch the Black Virgin icon. It has become a destination for tourists too – so there were a lot of people. But the sheer size of the square in front of the monastery meant that the crowds were easily dispersed. The devout formed a long queue waiting to file into the Basilica and stand before the Black Virgin, behind the high altar. While waiting for the Montserrat Boys Choir to perform in the Basilica I was able to watch pilgrims filing past and touching the icon. Not part of my belief system but there was no doubting the sincerity and fervor.

I climbed up the hill immediately above the Monastery buildings for a quiet walk through the forest and a splendid view. Later I took the funicular Sant Joan up to the highest point from which you can look down – almost vertically – on the Monastery complex. It was another world entirely, haunting and, without people around, intensely spiritual.