The Santa Cova from the Monastery of Montserrat

ByRafa López Martín
The hermitage of the "Santa Cova" seems to be suspended in the void.
The hermitage of the "Santa Cova" seems to be suspended in the void.

The legend places the "Santa Cova"the discovery of the "Moreneta"The sculpture known as the Virgin of Montserrat. Along a cobbled path and accompanied by sculptures of the religious mysteries, you can access it. Its interior will not leave you indifferent.

Summary

Next to the Montserrat rack railway, there is a paved path marked with the GR 96, the "GR 96".camí del Rosari". All we have to do is follow it and it will lead us to the Santa Cova.

Technical specifications

Distance: 1.7 km

Cumulative difference in altitude: -120 m

Timetable: 45 minutes (one way). Walking time without stops: 25 minutes

Water: In the monastery grounds

Difficulty: The outward journey, being downhill, does not present any difficulty. We have to bear in mind that we will have to return uphill.

Suggestions: You can combine the tour with a visit to the monastery of Montserrat or with these tours: The "Creu de Sant Miquel" from the Monastery of Montserrat o The "Camí dels Degotalls". from the monastery of Montserrat.

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

How to get there?

The starting point of this tour is the Montserrat Monastery (see in Google Maps), which can be accessed in different ways:

– By car by road from Monistrol (9 kms) or from El Bruc (14kms). In total, 60 kms from Barcelona. The car park, which runs parallel to the BP - 1121 access road to the monastery, fills up very easily on public holidays. Price: 6,50€/day.

– In the "aeri"This "aeri" is an aerial cabin or basket that takes five minutes and costs €8.6 one way and €13 return (adult). There are two ways to get there, by car or by FGC, and get off at the "Aeri de Montserrat" stop. See in Google Maps.

– On the rack railway (See in Google Maps): This train takes 15 minutes. Price: €8.1 one way and €13.50 return (adult). The rack railway stop can be reached by the FGC, at the stop at Monistrol de Montserrat (See in Google Maps) or by car, leaving it in the car park. free of charge next to the rack railway.

Itinerary:

(0h00min; 0,0 km) Monastery of Montserrat (724 m). If we arrive by plane, we can start to descend along the cobbled path. However, we recommend a visit to the monastery grounds first. The rack railway will leave us a little higher up, right next to the Plaça Abat Oliba. Here you will find the entrance to the monastery grounds, several shops and a large yew tree in the middle. The monastery was founded in 1025 and houses a community of Benedictine monks and the choir of choirboys. There is also a museum, restaurants, cafés, hotels... We start to descend along the cobbled "camí del rosari". also marked as GR 96.

The material used for the construction of the margins was the typical conglomerate of Montserrat, which has been dyed orange by lichens over the last three centuries.

"Possible box on the GR 96."

This long-distance trail is known as the "camí romeu to Montserrat"The route has a long historical tradition, as it was part of the pilgrimage between Barcelona and Santiago de Compostela, stopping at the sacred mountain. In its just over 57 km, divided into three stages, it starts at the foot of Collserola, crossing it to glide across the plains of Vallès, before entering Montserrat. Another option for climbing to the monastery from Barcelona is the GR 6 or "Montserrat path" with its 52 km. On the other hand, the GR 5 or "path of the viewpoints" also starts or ends at the monastery.

The GR 6 is one of the options for climbing to the monastery.

The first part of the path we walk down was paved and dug into the rock between the 17th and 18th centuries, thanks to the patronage of the Marquise de Tamarit. A little further down we see the upper stop of the "Aeri de Montserrat", an access system to the monastery built in the 1930s.

(0h10min; 0,5 km) Bypass GR 96 and GR 5 (650 m). We leave these long-distance paths to our left, which also take us down to the base of Montserrat, but through the Monistrol area.

A little later we see the stop of the Santa Cova funicular. However, if there is one thing that will catch our attention as we descend, apart from the views, it will be the richness of the sculptural heritage. We will find several groups dedicated to the Rosario y Fifteen mysteries of Our Lady (of joy, pain and glory), built between 1896 and 1916. They are part of Catalan modernism, and their design is the work of architects such as Gaudí, Sagnier and Puig i Cadafalch.

Between 1903 and 1916, the first mystery of the Resurrection of Jesus was built. The architects Antoni Gaudí and his disciple Joan Rubió were involved. And the sculptors Josep Llimona and Dionisio Renart.

We see the turning to the GR 5 on our left, but we continue a little further along the cobblestones.

(0h25min; 1,7 km) Santa Cova (620 m). Legend has it that it was in the year 880, when some shepherd children saw a light descending on the mountain of Montserrat. Accompanied by the bishop of Manresa, they found the carving of the virgin, known as "Moreneta", in a cave. The bishop wanted to move her to Manresa, but it was not possible after several unsuccessful attempts. So they decided to build a hermitage to venerate her in her place of origin.

The hermitage was partially destroyed during the war with the French (1811-12). In 1995 it was damaged by a fire that devastated Montserrat and only a year later by excessively heavy rainfall.

The current chapel dates from the 17th century and once again we find the suffrage of the Marquise of Tamarit. Built on the mountainside, it houses the original cave with a replica of the virgin. The original can be found in the monastery.

Replica of the "Moreneta" that we can see in the Santa Cova.

Inside there is a small cloister, the votive offering room (where the offerings of the faithful are kept), the sacristy, the pilgrims' room and the living quarters of the guardian monk.

Now all that remains is to go back to the monastery, albeit uphill.