General Info About Montserrat Mountain & Sanctuary

Montserrat is a mountain near Barcelona, in Catalonia, in Spain. It is the site of a Benedictine abbey, Santa María de Montserrat, which hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary and which is identified by some with the location of the Holy Grail in Arthurian myth.

The name "Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain", which describes well the peculiar aspect of the rock formation, which is visible from a great distance. and composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock, popular with climbers.

Montserrat is also home to one of the oldest boys' choirs (Escolania - website in english) in Europe. The choir performs in the basilica on weekdays at one o'clock in the afternoon, and from Monday to Thursday at seven in the evening except in the summer and during Christmas holidays. They also perform on Sunday in the Mass at eleven o'clock an in Vespers at 18:45.

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. From the summit, one can see in all directions (360 degrees) for many miles.

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 place were it is is called a volcanic area where the rock types are so volcanic that they are ready to have an eruption at any moment.

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