Circular from Monistrol, through the monastery of Montserrat, passing through canals and hermitages.

ByRafa López Martín
The waymarks lead us to the slopes of Montserrat.
The waymarks lead us to the slopes of Montserrat.

A very complete route that will allow us to get to know two very interesting canals: "the Canal del Pou del Gat" y "the Flat ChannelThe "red spires" will take us to see the area of rocky spires above the Montserrat Monastery. ELEFANT ? We will have a taste of the spirituality of the mountain, with two hermitages and the sacred enclosure of the monastery. The descent will be much faster following the marks on the mountainside.

Summary

In this circular route from the village of Monistrol, we will first go up through the "camí de l'Àngel". to the base of the mountain, passing through the monastery of Sant Benet. After doing a section of the PR on the side of the road, we will go up the ".Pou del Gat Canal"This will put our hand and foot coordination to the test as we negotiate some rocky passages. We will reach the "camí de l'Arrel" and ascend the second "channel" of the route, "the Flat Channel which will take us to a pass with splendid views of the roofs of the massif. We will continue our walk through the base of "l'Elefant" and we will approach the troglodyte hermitage of Sant Salvador and then to that of Sant Benet. We will go down the stairs to the monastery where we can refresh ourselves. Now all we have to do is descend, first along the path to the "Santa Cova". and then along trails that will take us back to the starting point of our route. SHALL WE ADD THE COMPLETE CLIMB TO THE ELEFANT?

Technical specifications

Distance: 16.1 km

Cumulative difference in altitude: +977 m/-985 m

WaterIn the village of Monistrol and in the monastery.

Duration: about 7 hours. Walking time without stops: 5 h 30 min.

Difficulty: On this route there is a great difference in altitude, and if we add to this the unstable and eroded terrain, the difficulty would be high. The progression along the "Canal del Pou del Gat" sometimes requires the help of the hands in some technical sections, but it does not present any difficulty. ELEFANT?

Suggestions: If you have the strength, the historic centre of Monistrol is worth a leisurely visit.

Recommended equipment for the summer: Comfortable clothes, water and some food, sun protection and a walking stick for the ascent and descent.

How to get there?

The starting point of this tour is Monistrol de Montserrat (google maps), which can be accessed in different ways:

  • At FGC. Monistrol de Montserrat stop. An adult ticket to Barcelona costs €5.75. FGC website
  • At car by the C-55 or C-58 from Barcelona

Itinerary

(0h00min; 0,0 km) FGC stop. Monistrol de Montserrat (151 m). Leave the station on the right and shortly after turn left along the street Pujada de l'Estació. You will see GR and Matagalls-Montserrat markers that will lead you to cross the bridge over the Llobregat river. We cross the C-55 through an underpass and come out onto Carrer del Pont. We then walk along Carrer Sant Joan, Carrer del Puig, Carrer del Camp and Carrer Camí de l'Àngel. We leave a chapel on the right.

(0h25min; 1,3 km) Dirt road (205 m). We climbed by "camí de l'Àngel".. This bridle path was the old way up to the monastery from the village of Monistrol, before the road was built. It is paved in places and is full of heather and rosemary bushes.

"BOX: The curious parasitic plants".

The strategy that most plants have developed to feed themselves is photosynthesis. We have already seen in the article peatlands that there are carnivorous plants such as the sundew or the grease. For there are other plants that have opted for parasitism, some of them, such as the mistletoe are hemiparasites, i.e. they complement nutrient suction from the host with photosynthesis. But others, such as the Orobanchewhich we can find in our climb, are strict parasites through the roots and have even lost their photosynthetic chlorophyll.

"La Mineta" is a tunnel on the rack railway line, which we find on our way up.

Shortly after the Mineta, we pass over the tracks. We zigzag uphill until we reach the BP-1121 road, which we take a few metres to the right.

(0h40min; 2.0 km) Canfranc mountain range (300 m). We climb along the path that emerges on the right and climbs steeply. There are large stones to negotiate, stretches of relatively flat crops and others with a steep slope, where staples and metal cables will help us in our upward progression. We see the winding route of the rack railway and head towards the monastery that we can see above us.

Our steps lead us to the monastery of Sant Benet. In the background, the mountain protected by the mist.

(1h15min; 3,5 km) Monastery of Sant Benet ( 521 m). This building was founded in 1952 and is used as a guest house and for spiritual activities. We turn left on the asphalt until we reach the BP-1121 road, on the right we see the ruins of the ".Colònia Puig". The abandoned appearance of the place does no credit to its past. This luxury hotel for the Barcelona bourgeoisie was part of the "tourist package" that for a few pesetas allowed wealthy people to go from the centre of Barcelona by car, visit the monastery of Montserrat and eat in this hotel. During the Civil War it was used as a hospital for the Republican side and in recent years it has been associated with paranormal phenomena. A few metres further on there is a path on the right, the so-called "Baixada dels Matxos".The road by which the mules brought foodstuffs and other products to the monastery.

(1h30min; 4,4 km) Road BP- 1103 (650 m). We have to walk along a small stretch of road on the hard shoulder, following the PR C-19 markings. We pass under the northern face of Montserrat with a spectacular view of its spires, among which the "Cavall Bernat" stands out.

(1h45min; 5,0 km) "Camí dels Degotalls" (1h45min; 5,0 km) ( 650 m). We see a signpost and a small path that leads us towards the mountain. A few metres further on, on the right, we come to the " ".canal del Pou del Gat".. The name "Pou de Gat" (the cat's well) refers to a well that is currently closed. We will walk along the few hundred metres of this wooded "channel" with the help of our hands in some funny, but not dangerous, steps.

The rocky path known as the "canal del Pou del Gat" will put our "climbing skills" to the test.

(2h10min; 6,8 km) "Camí de l'Arrel" (2h10min; 6,8 km) ( 865 m). The canal ends at this path, which we follow for a few metres to the right and climb up the "the Flat Channel. If the previous "canal" put our climbing skills to the test, this one will put our footwear to the test. The path zigzags up a very steep and eroded terrain, where we can use branches and trunks to hold on to.

(2h30min; 7,3 km) "Coll de la Canal Plana" (Coll de la Canal Plana) (1013 m).

At the end of "la Canal Plana" we find this sign, but we have already seen that it is not "flat" at all.

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The views of the rocky spires are impressive. On the right we can see the Cavall Bernat and in the centre the Mirador del Moro with the Albarda Castellana.

We take the path to the left and a little later another small path on the same side. We arrive at a hill from where we can contemplate "la Prenyada and the "Roc d'en Barberà we continue to climb.

The 1112 metres of the "Prenyada" spire are the delight of climbers, such as those we can see at the top.

elephant climb?

On the right we come to a very faint path through the vegetation that will take us steadily downhill in curves.

(3h05min; 8.0 km) Sant Salvador Chapel (1076 m). Built using a "balma" or natural rock, with an outer wall made of masonry. On the outside there is a cistern and on the inside there is a cavity that can be used as a shelter.

On the right we can see the water cistern and in the central part the "crystals" that cover the curious hermitage of Sant Salvador.

After the visit we continue descending through the holm oak grove until we return to the PR markings. We cross a curious gate, witness of an old fence and go towards the building.

(3h25min; 8,8 km) Sant Benet Hermitage (961 m). Refuge that formerly offered a restaurant service.

The chapel of Sant Benet is unfortunately closed.

We go back to the path we took before, going down alternating stairs and path. On our left we leave the "Miranda dels Ermitans", a curious viewpoint located above the monastery.

The monastery of Montserrat, our next destination.

We arrive at Santa Anna square and follow the marked path, by stairs. We pass the "pas dels Francesos" and continue descending, through an area more frequented by tourists.

(3h50min; 10,0 km) Monastery of Montserrat (724 m). We enter the enclosure, we can take the opportunity to take a break or buy some food and drink.

(3h55min; 11,2 km) "Camí de la Santa Cova" (Santa Cova Way) (697 m). We find the signs next to the rack railway stop. We go down a stretch of this cobbled path, pass the "Aeri" station, and see on the right the "Creu de Sant Miquel and hopefully the "basket" or "aeri".

On the descent we can see on our right the timid silhouette of the "Creu de Sant Miquel".

(4h00min; 11,7 km) GR 5/GR 96 (635 m). We go to the left along the "rough" path. The path follows the route of a water channel and the Matagalls-Montserrat markers, which we follow at the first fork to the left. We walk along the "drecera dels Tres Quarts". (shortcut of three quarters of an hour, we suppose...). We contemplate the splendid views of Monistrol and the Llobregat valley.

(4h30min; 13,3 km) Torrent de la Maçanera (435 m). We pass this gully and shortly after the Boix gully.

(4h50min; 14,2 km) "Camí de les Aigües" (4h50min; 14,2 km) (274 m). Our path ends at this track that will allow us to relax after the descent. We descend along a path to the right between agricultural areas and walls.

On the descent to Monistrol, we can see the silhouette of the massif.

Cross the BP-1121 road again and follow the GR markings along Carrer de la Font.

(5h10min; 15.3 km) Monistrol de Montserrat ( 161 m). We are in the Font Gran square. We go along Sant Pere street and then Pont street.

As we said at the beginning of the route, Monistrol is worth a leisurely visit.

We cross the C-55, the bridge over the river and continue along the street Pujada de l'Estació (now we have to go uphill).

(5h25min; 16,1 km) FGC stop. Monistrol de Montserrat (151 m).