Barcelona to Montserrat
Car Employ Spain - Barcelona
Barcelona is renowned since of its links with Gaudi, its museums, its shops and its nightlife, and is a excellent place to get a holiday or short break. On the other hand, when you employ a car if you are in Barcelona, it is possible to also stop by some of the fantastic attractions that lie outside from the city. Get additional facts about Manresa travel guide
Barcelona for the Monastery of Montserrat
If you are on a car employ vacation in Barcelona, you are able to take a break from the hustle and bustle from the city by jumping in your hire car and driving to Montserrat, one on the highest mountains inside the Prelitoral Catalana variety. The mountain is named soon after its jagged appearance, with Montserrat translating as "Saw-toothed Mountain" or "Serrated Mountain", and one of its main attractions is definitely the Monestir de Montserrat (Monastery of Montserrat).
Driving from Barcelona to Montserrat
It'll take you about 90 minutes to drive to Montserrat from Barcelona within your employ car. To acquire there, head out of Barcelona on the Avinguda Diagonal and take the B-23 motorway. Take the A2 motorway and leave at the Manresa exit. Take the C-55 to Monistrol de Montserrat then either park your employ car there and take the cable car or railway towards the sanctuary, or take the BP-1103 to Montserrat. There is restricted parking available at the sanctuary.
The Monastery of Montserrat
The Monastery of Montserrat was founded by Olbia (the Abbot of Ripal and Bishop of Vic) in 1025 as a way to mark the place exactly where the religious icon of Our Lady of Montserrat (also known as La Moreneta, or "the Dark One"), now the Patron Saint of Catalonia, was discovered.
Legend has it that this statue of your Virgin Mary was brought to Montserrat by St. Peter and hidden inside a cave. It was discovered by shepherds in 880, following a series of visions, and though the Bishop of Manresa ordered that it should really be taken to Manresa, it became also heavy to carry as soon as any individual attempted to move it. He took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary didn't want the statue to become moved, and so ordered a chapel to become built to honour her.
The statue presently housed in the shrine inside the monastery's basilica is really a 12th century Romanesque carving.
You can take a tour of your monastery's Open Air Museum using the audio-guides and maps readily available from your car hire company. You can find 4 routes accessible: the first will take you around the monastery's most important buildings, which includes the basilica; the second will take you along the path that pilgrims used to work with to reach Montserrat; the third will take you to the Holy Grotto exactly where Our Lady of Montserrat was found; plus the fourth will take you on a tour of many of the monastery's buildings and enable you to view a number of monuments.
It is possible to also check out the Museum of Montserrat, which incorporates six permanent art collections; see the interactive "Inside Montserrat" exhibition; pay a visit to the Montserrat Library, which houses greater than 300,000 books and manuscripts; take a break from your hire car using a trip on one of your two funicular railways; or hike within the surrounding location, which is a designated nature park.