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The magical mountain of Montserrat in Catalonia

The geomorphological characteristics of its seductive and abrupt environment create unbelievable and whimsical natural sculptures that make up the peculiar landscape of the Montserrat mountain. These forms have been caused by erosion, tectonic movements and the multitude of sediments that were deposited over the years.

Its incredible views on clear days are well known and famous, you can even see the Pyrenees or Mallorca, a spectacular picture worthy of being admired or appear in your next audiovisual production or photographic shooting.

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Montserrat is a rocky massif traditionally considered as the most important and significant mountain in Catalonia. It is located 30 km from the centre of Barcelona between the regions of l’Anoia, Baix Llobregat and Bages. On this mountain is in addition the Benedictine Monastery of Montserrat, dedicated to the Virgin of Montserrat, located.

It is an unique mass that rises sharply to the west of the Llobregat River up to 1,236 metres high. The differential erosion of water acting on materials of different strength and composition, has given it its characteristic and magical relief, with needles, valleys and caves, which will make it a must to use it for your next project. audiovisual.

The monastery of Montserrat

Among the various buildings of this Benedictine monastery the chapter house, the neo-Romanesque cloister and the refectory stand out. It is renovated in 1925 by Josep Puig i Cadafalch.

The culture is also part of Montserrat since the monastery has a library with almost 300,000 volumes, a choir of children singers, considered to be the oldest one in Europe, and a museum containing works by artists such as El Greco, Picasso and Salvador Dalí. There are also some treasures of the Ancient Egypt, among which a mummy.

All together a lot of locations to choose from for your photographic shooting or more mystical audiovisual production.

The viewpoint of Sant Jeroni

Sant Jeroni is the name of the highest peak of the rocky massif of Montserrat, with a height of 1,236 m. Near the top there was a hermitage, there is also a chapel and the station of the cable-way of San Jeroni.

The top is the highest point of the surroundings. The mountain of Montserrat surprises anyone who visits it for the first time and it is an inexhaustible source of natural routes to discover. Once you get to the top the views are spectacular, the landscape becomes the viewpoint of Catalonia, from where you can see Mallorca on a clear day. A spectacular background for your next photographic shooting or audiovisual production.

To reach the top, you have two options: walking along a route that passes through the middle of the mountain, where you will enjoy the beautiful landscape, or with the cable-way of Sant Jeróni. The first starts with some stairs on the left of the source Portal, west of the sanctuary.

The cable-ways and the rack railway of Montserrat

The two cable-ways of Montserrat are located in the surroundings of the Sanctuary of the Virgin. They are the cable-ways of Sant Joan and Santa Cova, built in 1918 and 1929, respectively, with the aim of transporting pilgrims and visitors to the most emblematic places of the mountain, such as the hermitage of San Juan and the Santa Cueva (Holy Cave) where, according to tradition, the image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found.

The cable-way of Sant Joan, result of the engineering of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, allows to reach in seven minutes, with a maximum slope of 65.5%, the height of 1,000 metres above sea level.

The cable-way of la Santa Cova connects the monastery with the place where, according to legend, the image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found.

The rack railway of Montserrat is the only means to access Montserrat. It is a transport that reaches the centre of the Sanctuary. You need some 15 minutes of travel in which you can enjoy a privileged and spectacular view of the mountain. The beauty of the landscape is fascinating, and the views through the panoramic glass windows of the train make the journey an attraction in itself.

3 Means of transport, with different landscapes, to use in your photographic shooting or audiovisual production.

The Holy Cave of Montserrat

The Santa Cueva de Montserrat is the place where the image of the Virgin of Montserrat was found in 880, the origin of her cult and her consecration as patron saint of Catalonia. This discovery turned the place into a pilgrimage centre and led to the construction of the Monastery of Montserrat.

The Santa Cueva is accessed through the Camino de la Santa Cueva, a path that is excavated in the mountain, along the Montserrat Massif. It was built between 1691 and 1704 thanks to the patronage of Gertrudis de Camporrells, Marquise de Tamarit. Following this route you can see the Monumental Rosary of Montserrat, a group of several sculptures dedicated to the Rosary and the fifteen mysteries of the Virgin, built between 1896 and 1916.

The church of Saint Cecilia

Around the year 900 the church of Santa Cecilia de Montserrat, located near the Monastery, was mentioned for the first time. Santa Cecilia de Montserrat is a more than millenary place full of spiritual, historical and artistic significance.

A location that will return you to the past, which evokes tranquility and mysticism in your photographic shooting or audiovisual production.

Path of the Degotalls

A good way to get to the monastery is by the path of the Degotalls. It is a flat and very entertaining route, ideal to do with children. Plain, pleasant and between mosaics along the way, praising virgins of several towns of Catalonia.

On the path of the Degotalls we see also a series of monuments that honor the memory of different intellectuals and cultural activists who made possible the recovery of national feeling from the nineteenth century.

The Salpetre Caves

The interior of the emblematic mountain of Montserrat hides a network of caves that perforate it. One of these caves, the most outstanding due to its size and history, is the Cueva del Salnitre or Cueva de Collbató. Another of the original locations that you will find in the mountain of Montserrat for your next audiovisual project.

The abundance of bats, in other times, propitiated the accumulation of their excrements that, when decomposing on the calcareous rock rich in phosphates, formed potassium nitrate, better known as salnitre (in Catalan) or nitrate, hence the name of the cave. The salpetre was extracted from the cave to be used as a food preservative and as the main ingredient of black powder.

Among the visitors to the cave are famous people such as Jacinto Verdaguer, Santiago Rusiñol and even Gaudí, who said that the cave forms served as inspiration for his design of the Sagrada Familia.

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