Sights in Montserrat
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Funicular de Sant Joan
You can explore the mountain above Montserrat Monastery by a network of paths leading to some of the peaks and to 13 empty and rather dilapidated little chapels. The Funicular de Sant Joan will carry you from the monastery 250m up the mountain in seven minutes. Children pay about half price on the funiculars. If you prefer to walk, the road leading past the funicular’s bottom station winds 3km up the mountain and around to the top station. From the Sant Joan top station, it’s a 20-minute stroll (signposted) to the Sant Joan chapel. Enjoy the views as you look west from the trail. More exciting is the hour’s walk northwest along a path marked with occasional blobs…
reviewed
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Monestir de Montserrat
The Monestir de Montserrat was founded in 1025 to commemorate a vision of the Virgin on the mountain. Wrecked by Napoleon’s troops in 1811, then abandoned as a result of anticlerical legislation in the 1830s, it was rebuilt from 1858. Today a community of about 80 monks lives here. Pilgrims come from far and wide to venerate La Moreneta (Black Madonna), a 12th-century Romanesque wooden sculpture of Mary with the infant Jesus that has been Catalonia’s official patron since 1881. A bit like children refusing to believe claims that Santa Claus does not exist, Catalans chose to ignore the discovery in 2002 that their Madonna is not black at all, just deeply tanned by…
reviewed
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Museu de Montserrat
The two-part Museu de Montserrat has a collection ranging from ancient artefacts, including an Egyptian mummy (the collection of Egyptian artefacts counts more than 1000 items), to occasional works by Caravaggio, Monet, Degas, Picasso and others (including an ample parade of Catalan painters). The Espai Audiovisual is a walk-through multimedia space that illustrates the monks’ daily life.
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Runaway Ghaut
Runaway Ghaut is a short walk into the hills in the Woodlands area. Ghauts ('guts') are deep ravines where water flows from the mountains to the sea. The walk, an easy, relaxing trek starts at a picnic area on the main road, passes through tropical wilderness to a natural spring.
Legend has it that once you've drunk from the natural spring you'll be drawn to Montserrat again and again during your lifetime.
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Sea Wolf Diving
Although much of the ocean surrounding the southern part of the island is still off-limits, what is left of Montserrat's diving is legendary. Best of all, it was left in near-pristine condition when the volcano virtually wiped out tourism. Sea Wolf is an excellent, reliable dive shop.
It also rents out snorkelling gear per day and offers a host of dive courses, including an underwater photography course.
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Montserrat Volcano Observatory
Scientists and researchers at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, more commonly known as the MVO, watch the volcano around the clock. A 30-minute tour offers a good synopsis on the history of the volcano, plus a short video of the biggest and best eruptions explains the science and environmental impacts surrounding volcanology and seismology. Tours also include a look at the operations room.
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Basilica
From Plaça de Santa Maria you enter the courtyard of the 16th-century basilica. The façade, with its carvings of Christ and the 12 Apostles, dates from 1901, despite its 16th-century Plateresque style. For La Moreneta, follow the signs to the Cambril de la Mare de Déu, to the right of the basilica’s main entrance.
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