Montserrat

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From the legends of the dark past to the modern rockclimbing

A compact rock mass, consisting of bizarre conglomerate sculptures, is located only in 10 kilometers east of Barcelona, has a name of Montserrat - which translates from Catalan as “Ragged mountains”

Here the gloomy silent giants gathered as for some secret meeting, and so they froze in time. Or maybe they just dozed off for a couple of millennia, lost in their dreams of the immomerable past.

The legend of Montserrat is rooted in the deep past of Spain, in the times of the fierce battles of the Romanesque tribes with the Moors, who tried to conquer the entire south of Europe and expand the influence of Islam far beyond the borders that existed at that time. From this dark time, history brought to us the echoes of distant events in the form of beautiful fairy tales and romantic legends. Most of which of course, are fiction... But the very fact of the birth of any legend has its roots in some historical event, which was encrypted during the many centuries  into the beautiful images of an old fairy tale...

The army of the Catalan prince Iver was attacked by the Islamic horde in the most unfortunate place for the battle - grasped between the swampy lowland of the Obregat River and the base of the rocky fingers of the Montserrat massif - at that time it was considered the habitat of mysterious creatures - Serres, who allegedly had power over stone and could turn themselves into a stone sculptures. As befits such a mysterious place, access for people to it was closed - none of those who, out of stupidity or courage, decided to disturb the peace of the Serres, never returned back to the people.

The outcome of the battle seemed obvious - the Islamic army was many times more numerous than the defenders of the Catalan land, so it was almost no chance of victory. Three messengers were sent to report of the imminent bloody battle to the royal residence of Bars, to warn the town inhabitants of the impending threat. They had very little time - to get to the city, the runners had to go around the ominous stone slums of Monserrat - a task almost impossible - the distance was too great and the town would inevitably have been subjected to an unexpected attack. Two messengers ran around and died from exhaustion, never reaching the goal. And the youngest, named Herom, made his mind for a desperate act. He decided to try to go straight through the rocky teeth of Moserrat - a desperate undertaking, but there were no other ways to avoid a huge disaster - the count went on for minutes.

At the sunset, the troops stood in the battle formation - the detachment of Prince Iver was squeezed between rocks and a swamp and was preparing for its last battle - with no chance of salvation - the enemy was numerous and merciless.

Then suddenly something happened that changed the outcome of the battle in seconds, even before it began. The astonished warriors of the both sides watched in silence as the rock sculptures, colored by the crimson light of the sunset, began to move. Slowly and inexorably, rock giants moved to help the defenders of their native land, and in the van-guard of the stone army was the same messenger Herom, who, with his selfless courage, aroused the sympathy of the rock monsters. This sight threw the attackers into awe and they disorderly flee.

The incredible defeat of the Islamic army led to the subsequent flight of the entire horde, the war changed its course and soon the invaders were defeated and expelled from Catalonia.

No one saw Herom after this battle, but at the foot of the rock sculptures, a few years later, the shepherds found a strange stone in the shape of a heart, surrounded by thickets of rose hips blooming with scarlet flowers. This place was considered as the place of death of the brave young man, where he sacrificed his own heart to the King of the Serra tribe, in exchange for the protection of his comrades.

His sacrifice was accepted and forever remained embodied in stone. And also, in a beautiful bouquet of strange legends that local old people like to tell, sitting by the hot fireplace at night.

Tongues of flame eat fragrant juniper twigs, and outside the window the sunset draws amazing pictures on the tops of the rock columns, turning them into the heads of those fantastic Serres that came to life in order to win the decisive battle for the freedom of this land.

In the depths of Montserrat, away from the main tourist routes, there is a rock that bears the name of the young man who, according to legend, decided to sacrifice his life and convey the important message, overcoming what was considered insurmountable in those days. Surprisingly, after many centuries, his name remained in an unofficial, but very important part of the history of Spain - in its fairy tales. And not far from this rock you can find the monastery of Montserrat, founded in the 11th century and which has come down to us in its almost unchanged state - extremely calm, peaceful and clean place.

Now Montserrat is a beautiful piece of wilderness just half an hour drive from Barcelona. Montserrat is a place of rest for a huge number of people who are practicing a variety of activities - walking, running, climbing, just being outdoors on the fresh air.

However, despite the very positive and relaxed background of this popular location, something fantastic emanates from this place, echoes of the events of ancient times have not left this mysterious labyrinth of rock giants. Try to walk here at sunset, on a clear evening, at the very beginning of the night twilight. At this moment, time becomes transparent and the events of mysterious past feel as if they have just happened. And the rocks of Montserrat hang over head with their crimson fangs, just like in the days of ancient battles and valiant victories of the past.

The author of the text and photos - Alex Trubachev
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