Montserrat () is a multi-peaked mountain range near

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is part of the Catalan Pre-Coastal Range. The main peaks are Sant Jeroni (1,236 m), Montgrós (1,120 m) and Miranda de les Agulles (903 m). It is well known as the site of the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

Santa Maria de Montserrat Santa Maria de Montserrat () is an abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict located on the mountain of Montserrat in Monistrol de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. It is notable for enshrining the image of the Virgin of Montserrat. The monastery was f ...

, which hosts the

Virgin of Montserrat Our Lady of Montserrat or the Virgin of Montserrat ( ca, Mare de Déu de Montserrat) is a Marian title associated with a statue of the Madonna and Child venerated at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery on the Montserrat Mountain in Catalonia ...

sanctuary. "Montserrat" literally means "

serrated Serration is a saw-like appearance or a row of sharp or tooth-like projections. A serrated cutting edge has many small points of contact with the material being cut. By having less contact area than a smooth blade or other edge, the applied p ...

(like the common handsaw) mountain" in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

. It describes its peculiar aspect with a multitude of rock formations that are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of

sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

. Montserrat was designated as a National Park in 1987. The Monastery of Montserrat which houses the virgin that gives its name to the monastery is also on the mountain, although it is also known as ''La Moreneta'' ("the little tan/dark one" in

Access

The Benedictine Abbey can be reached by road, by the

Aeri de Montserrat The Aeri de Montserrat () is an aerial cable car which provides one of the means of access to the Montserrat mountain and abbey. It can be found 1 hour from the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Travelers using the cable car should take note ...

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 Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya (, "Catalan Government Railways"), or FGC, is a railway company which operates several unconnected lines in Catalonia, Spain. The lines operated include metro and commuter lines in and around the city o ...

train from Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya station. From the abbey, the Funicular de Sant Joan

funicular railway A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite en ...

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, while the Funicular de la Santa Cova descends to a shrine.

Hiking and climbing

* The highest summit of Montserrat is called ''Sant Jeroni'' (Saint Jerome) and stands at 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. Montserrat is part of the

GR footpath The GR footpaths are a network of long-distance walking trails in Europe, mostly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. They go by the following names: french: link=no, sentier de grande randonnée, vls, link=no, Groteroutepad, nl, L ...

172. The Cavall Bernat is an important rock feature popular with climbers. * The well-known

via ferrata A via ferrata ( Italian for "iron path", plural ''vie ferrate'' or in English ''via ferratas'') is a protected climbing route found in the Alps and certain other locations. The term "via ferrata" is used in most countries and languages except ...

''Canal de las Damas'' (

difficulty level Game balance is a branch of game design that is described as a mathematical-algorithmic model of a game’s numbers, game mechanics, and relations between the two. Game balance consists of adjusting values to create a certain user experience. Pla ...

D) leads from

Collbató Collbató () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Baix Llobregat in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the southern slopes of Montserrat. The area has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC, as shown by Neolithic remains found in caves a ...

through a canal. Montserrat des del Puig Lluent

Geology

Montserrat is formed of conglomerate that was originally deposited in a fan delta at the margin of the

Ebro Basin The Ebro Basin was a foreland basin that formed to the south of the Pyrenees during the Paleogene. It was also limited to the southeast by the Catalan Coastal Ranges. It began as a fully marine basin with connections to both the Atlantic Ocean and ...

, part of the foreland basin to the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

, during the middle

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

. The conglomerate was derived from the uplifting

Catalan Coastal Range The Catalan Coastal Range ( ca, Serralada Litoral Catalana, ) is a system of mountain ranges running parallel to the Mediterranean Sea coast in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Catalan Mediterranean System. Its main axis runs between the ...

s to the southeast of the basin and the clast type is dominated by

Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...

sedimentary rocks. The fan had an original size of between 100–150 square kilometres. The resistance of the Montserrat conglomerate to erosion compared to the rest of the fill of the Ebro Basin explains its current mountainous nature. The dominant clast lithology in the conglomerate is

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

and the sequence is cemented by calcite. The presence of so much carbonate in the rock has led to the formation of typical karst landforms, such as cave systems and karst towers.

Namesakes

In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the Caribbean island of Montserrat ''Santa Maria de Montserrate'', after the ''Virgin of Montserrat''.The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems: Volume 2
page 724 Again, in 1606, the Spanish expedition of Luis Vaéz de Torres charted Mount Ernest island in the

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

as ''Santa Maria de Montserrate'', due to its relatively high peak. Also

Monserrate Monserrate (named after Catalan homonym mountain ''Montserrat'') is a high mountain over 10,000 feet high that dominates the city center of Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia. It rises to above the sea level, where there is a church (built in ...

is a 3,152 m high mountain that dominates Bogotá's downtown which has a church built in 1650 over the ancient

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

sacred mountain and that includes a

funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...

and an

aerial lift An aerial lift, also known as a cable car or ropeway, is a means of cable transport in which ''cabins'', ''cars'', ''gondolas'', or open chairs are hauled above the ground by means of one or more cables. Aerial lift systems are frequently employe ...

similar to the ones at Montserrat.

References

External links

*
LARSA Montserrat
Montserrat General Information
Gallery of oblique aerial photos of Montserrat
by

Doc Searls David "Doc" Searls (born July 29, 1947), is an American journalist, columnist, and a widely read blogger. He is the host of FLOSS Weekly, a free and open-source software (FLOSS) themed netcast from the TWiT Network, a co-author of '' The Cluetr ...

Getting to Montserrat from Barcelona city
{{Authority control Mountains of Catalonia Shrines to the Virgin Mary Rock formations of Catalonia Christian hermitages in Spain Mountains associated with Christian monasticism