Cassiopaean Sandbox > Travelogues
Montserrat Mountain
Álvaro:
Yesterday I went to the mountain of Montserrat, Catalonia. It is the "Magic Mountain" here. There are many books written about this curious geological formation and I think it's a site that is nice to visit.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montserrat_(mountain)
--- Quote --- Montserrat (mountain)
Montserrat is a mountain near Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. It is the site of a Benedictine abbey, Santa Maria de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary and which is identified by some [1] with the location of the Holy Grail in Arthurian myth. "Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain" in Catalan. It describes the peculiar aspect of the rock formation, which is visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, popular with climbers.
The Caribbean island of Montserrat is named after the mountain.
Transportation
The abbey can be reached by road, or by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway. The lower stations of both the rack railway and the cable car can be reached by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train from Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya station. From the abbey, the Funicular de Sant Joan funicular railway goes up to the top of the mountain, where there are various abandoned hovels in the cliff faces that were previously the abodes of reclusive monks, whilst the Funicular de Santa Cova descends to a shrine.
The summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome) and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above sea-level. It is accessible by hiking trails which connect from the top entrance to the Sant Joan funicular, the monastery, or the base of the mountain.
--- End quote ---
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macizo_de_Montserrat
--- Quote --- This is a unique form massif that rises abruptly to the west of the river Llobregat to the 1236 meters high peak of St. Jerome. Other prominent peaks are the Cavall Bernat, the Agulles, the Serrat del Moro, the Montgròs, Sant Joan and Palomera. In 1987 he was declared a nature reserve to ensure its preservation.
The whimsical shapes of the mountain's most emblematic Catalan principality, are the result of geological and geomorphological process of millions of years.
When the sea tertiary occupied what is now the "Plana de Lleida", and the Balearic Islands were a great massif of the current size of the Pyrenees, a delta formed by pebbles and other debris material carried by a large torrential river occupied this land . Parent material thickness and layers of sandstone and marl were cemented with the progressive desiccation of this delta. But do not set the start point of the current relief to the violence of great episode of the Alpine Orogeny, which collectively raised and fractured Montserrat conglomerate (known as conglomerate) completely changed the landscape.
Differential erosion of the water acting on different resistance materials and composition, work that facilitated the multiple cracks, has led to relief as distinctive and magical, with needles, valleys, Baum and caves, which shows Montserrat magnificently today.
As good Mediterranean mountains, forests of oak and durum occupy large parts of it may seem a barren mountain, is a great variety of vegetation once we get into it, especially in shady areas and inland valleys, where shrubs and vines damper characteristics, such as sarsaparilla, boxwood and buckthorn colonize the ground in oak woods.
Among the most characteristic fauna are wild boars and wild goats as mammals and easier to see eagles and owls as birds more colorful though nocturnal habits. The salamander, the common toad, jay, sparrowhawk, the ladder snake and the bat, among other fauna elements complement the ecology of the mountain.
Since legend has found the image of the Virgin in the Santa Cova, Montserrat has been associated with spirituality. Additionally, the mountain monastery has a remarkable number of small churches and emit some abandoned as Santa Cecilia, Saint Benedict, Saint John or St. Jerome.
Our Lady, popularly known as "the Moreneta" for its dark color, is a Romanesque sculpture in wood dated to the late twelfth century. Its color is the result of the transformation of varnish over time. The feast of the Virgin of Montserrat is celebrated on 27 April. The Virgin is the patroness of Catalonia.
Among the various buildings of the Benedictine monastery, the Chapter House, the neo-Romanesque cloister and refectory, are its architectural style, renovated in 1925 by Josep Puig.
The present community of Montserrat is composed of about eighty monks who follow the Rule of St. Benedict (sixth century). The main objective of the community and continue to make the mountain a meeting and prayer.
The culture also part of Montserrat since the monastery has a library with nearly 300,000 volumes, a choir of children singing (considered the conservatory of Europe's oldest child) and a museum featuring works by artists like El Greco, Picasso, Salvador Dalí. Also there are some treasures of ancient Egypt among which includes a mummy.
The monastery is also the source of publishing initiatives as the Publications of the Abbey of Montserrat, the magazine Serra d'Or.
--- End quote ---
It is also the source of many legends. Dimensional gates intraterrestrial underground civilizations ... Although it is a lie, it shows you are calling attention to the mountain to the people here. Hitler was seeking the Holy Grail in Montserrat. Every day 11 every month more people go to the mountain to spot UFOs.
Personally, it's a strange place and has something "magical". I recommend visiting.
I leave here a link to photo galleries: http://www.barcelonagallery.com/cas/menu6-2.htm
{Mod Edit: Fixed links}
Perceval:
Hi Alvaro, I've visited Montserrat a few years ago, it's a great place, very impressive formation. I didn't know that there were so many mysteries associated with it, and UFO spotters too?! :rolleyes: But I can understand why. It would be great if we could rent a space in the monastery there and have an EE meeting!
Here are a few more images
Álvaro:
Perceval Hi, I'm going once a year, and last year I slept in the monastery. There are also camping and hotels. Renting a room in the monastery would be a matter of talking with the leaders, I am entrusting the monastery's phone number (do not worry, it's not a private number is the one on the website). You have to ask the guest of the monastery.
93 877 77 77
The website is: http://www.abadiamontserrat.net/
Herakles:
Hi Alvaro, Perceval,
I agree, Montserrat is gorgeous, impressive and relaxing site. A few years back we (former group I was involved with) would gather and rent facilities over 4-5 days.
Wonderful memories and special area in that place for learning. The journey up by funicular is spectacular. I also have quite painful memories there, but that is another story as it is all part of learning. In addition, experienced strange dreams there but find the rock-face, the serrated mountain to be spell-binding, especially at night, it is as if the rock itself is alive. I experienced telepathy while visiting this place as well, something that has only rarely happened in my life, but there is no doubt that it was real. Strange to read this thread as just the other day I was thinking about that time, in fact, my first visit there, when about 10 of us enjoyed our first meal there, on a scouting trip for suitable locations to host retreats. That day is remembered as quite literally the best day of my life! So much laughter, fun and good times, things to see and trails to hike. For the smokers in the forum it might be nice to know that at the time they made allowance for indoors smoking (in a single gathering room upstairs) as the whole "stamp out smoking" effort was really gearing up then. I doubt it is allowed today, but maybe, if the Spanish Law is no smoking in public.
Anyways, there are discussions on" the Moreneta" elsewhere on the forum. There is a particular local story about how this one was found, apparently having a UFO/angelic twist. All in all the area is fascinating, there is so much to see!
Perceval, in my opinion having an E/E meeting there would be very practical, feasible, and uplifting experience.
I think I posted on the forum about some stories surrounding this black madonna so will see if I can locate and repost here.
cheers!
PS - yes, lodging is quite affordable if I recall. There are rooms available in the Hotel Abat de Cisneros, (and maybe the monastery too if you are keen on that kind of thing, I am not) which are very simple rooms. But also little 2 to 3 bedroom apartments with kitchen, etc, which makes for really nice, simple, yet nice, accommodations. We had a negotiator represent the group who was able to strike up good relationship with their staff, who were very friendly and warm people.
Layla (maybe Laia?) was the manager who helped us.
EDIT: other areas in the forum which discussed this topic.
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=9436.msg68009#msg68009
http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=9380.msg67695#msg67695
AndeeTW:
I was in Barcelona a couple years ago when I was traveling through Europe. We ended up taking a day trip to Montserrat and seeing the abbey. It was quite beautiful and really interesting formation. I wasn't aware of the UFOs and other tales about it either. We also got to see FC Barcelona play at Camp Nou which is also an impressive formation although it is man-made.
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