Montserrat is best known for the church and abbey located in a small town high in its cliff face. It can be reached by road, rack railway or cable car. The abbey, called the Santa Maria de Montserrat is also famous for housing the Virgin of Montserrat (a statue of Mary and infant Jesus sculpted from wood in the 12th century).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montserrat_(mountain)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_de_Montserrat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_of_Montserrat
We caught the early train out of Barcelona which got us to the cable car a few minutes before the first car up to Montserrat.
(Ilana standing outside the cable car station. The workers came to open up a few minutes after we arrived which ensured we were first on line for a good viewing spot on the cable car itself.)
(View from the cable car.)
When we got to the top we briskly made our way to the church since the viewing of the Virgin of Montserrat closes for a siesta at 10:30am. Our plan of arriving early paid off, as we were able to view the popular sites of the church before the lines started.
(Inside the church looking towards the altar. The lighted small window above the seated womans head is where the Virgin of Montserrat sits. A small staircase along the side of the church leads up and behind the altar so people can pass by the statue as you can see in the video below.)
(View from high above the altar where the Virgin of Montserrat sits.)
(The Virgin of Montserrat.)
(Ilana outside the main entrance of the church.)
(Archways near the cliff outside of the church.)
(Views with our backs to the church looking towards the rest of the small town of Montserrat.)
(Yes I took this one myself.)
(During our ride back down by cable car. We beat the crowds out too and had the cable car all to ourselves.)
(View looking down toward our cable cars destination.)
(The other cable car bringing a load of people up.)
Once we got back to Barcelona we decided to visit the Museu Nacional D'Art De Catalunya which houses some impressive Romanesque wall-paintings from churches in Catalonia from the 11-13th centuries. It also has some works by Antoni Gaudi, who was an architect part of the Modernista style (offshoot of Art Nouveau) whose work can be seen throughout Barcelona. The museum is housed in an palace built in the early 1900's for the Worlds Fair.
(Museum.)
(Ilana on her audioguide learning about the wall-paintings from 12th century churches.)
(Ilana in front of and facing the museum with the Font Magica (Magic Fountain) behind her. The Plaza de Espana is further down the street behind her.)
Since we covered a lot of ground yesterday and this morning/afternoon we decided it was time to relax and just enjoy Barcelona a bit without a sightseeing agenda.
(The nearby Plaza Catalunya at night.)
FJ
It always makes sense to surround yourself with the elderly when in a cable car. Good thinking!
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