Montserrat Mountain

A couple weekends ago we rented a car to take the kiddos to the doc.

They both ended up getting shots/vaccines that day - so we made it up to them the next day by going to Montserrat.

Montserrat is a National Park about a half hour from us.

It's name literally means "serrated" - and has an interesting story behind it.

Here's what a Barcelona tourist website had to say about it,

The history of Montserrat is fascinating and started in 880 when a small group of shepherd children saw a bright light descending from the sky in the Montserrat mountains. In the same moment the children heard angels singing and the music filled their hearts with a radiant joy.

Overwhelmed by the experience the children ran home to frantically recall the experience to their parents. The parents were sceptical but knew their children were trustworthy and honest and so they went to where the children had experienced the visions to see if they could see what all the fuss was about.

For the whole month following the first visitation the parents were also witness to the same heavenly experiences and were left with only one conclusion. The visions were a sign from God.

A local vicar was brought to the scene and witnessed the same experiences as the children and parents. The visions occurred in the same location in a cave on Montserrat mountain. When this cave was explored by the religious elders of the community they found an image of the Virgin Mary. And from that moment on the cave became a holy sanctuary for religious pilgrims.

Today the site of the visions has been marked by a Holy Grotto on the mountain. You can walk to the Holy Grotto and see first hand where these events took place. The Holy Grotto has now be ordained a holy place and is visited by pilgrims and curious onlookers from all over the world.A local vicar was brought to the scene and witnessed the same experiences as the children and parents. The visions occurred in the same location in a cave on Montserrat mountain. When this cave was explored by the religious elders of the community they found an image of the Virgin Mary. And from that moment on the cave became a holy sanctuary for religious pilgrims.

http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/tour/montserrat-spain.html

We weren't able to make it down to the Grotto on this visit, but did enjoy walking around the Monastery and Basilica. Additionally, Montserrat offered some breathtaking views of the surrounding area.

Monastery

Perhaps on our next visit we will take this funicular?

We went inside to see the statue.

We didn't realize you had to go up some stairs and through tight spaces and therefore made quite the scene dragging our double stroller up there. :/

We hope to return to Monsterrat soon to do more hiking and to hear the infamous choir boys (they don't sing on Saturdays).  It was a lovely day trip and we enjoyed the sights and scenes that Montserrat had to offer.