By Hannah Batista
About an hour northwest from the city of Barcelona, you’ll find a mountain sitting about 4,000 feet high in the Catalan countryside. However, this isn’t just any mountain. Montserrat Mountain is a multi-peaked mountain range that is overflowing with history and religious significance since pre-Christian times.
It all started in 880 when, according to legend, the shepherds inhabiting the area saw a light shining and music coming from an unknown cave. When they entered, they found the famous wooden figure of the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. The figure is 3 feet tall made out of poplar wood. Her skin is dark brown and her clothes are a shiny golden color.
This became known as the famous Black Madonna of Montserrat.
The Madonna of Montserrat was found holding baby Jesus on her lap and a sphere in her right hand. Baby Jesus holds a pine cone in his hand, which is a symbol of eternal life while the sphere is a symbol of the universe and power.
After discovering the Madonna, the shepherds ran to the Bishop, the highest authority at the monastery, in light of what they saw. The Bishop went to the cave to see it for himself. He decided he wanted to remove her from the cave in order to properly worship her in the cathedral.
As the shepherds tried moving her out of the cave, she became heavier and heavier, to the point that no one could carry her anymore. They took this as a sign to leave her where they found her, and they began to build the monastery around her.
The Black Madonna was believed to have been created in Jerusalem. The question of the century is how she ended up in the cave where she was discovered by the shepherds. There are still many remaining questions about the history of her creation.
When they found the Madonna, she was seen as black. Many to this day, do not have a solid answer as to why that is. Some say it is because of the smoke of the candles that made her darker, some say it is because of the wood she was created from, and others say that she has simply darkened over time. Regardless, she is commonly referred to today as La Moreneta, which translates to the dark little one.
Miracles were attributed to the finding of the Black Madonna. These miracles fueled a huge growth period of the monastery. The Madonna was and still remains a target of many pilgrimages to Monsterrat. Many tourists today solely visit Montserrat to view the Madonna.
Guiding a tour in Montserrat, Ivan made sure to take his time when showing the tourists the Madonna.
“I wanted to make sure that the visitors on my tour really understood the importance and impact that Madonna had and still has on this city and the Catholic religion,” Ivan said. “People also believe that coming here to touch the sphere in the Madonna’s hand has miraculous powers and can even help with fertility.”
The Monastery of Montserrat was founded in 1025 by the Abbot of Ripoli and Bishop of Vic, Oliba, one of the most important religious figures in Catalonia at that time. A Romanesque church including a carving of the Mother of God was built soon after, leading pilgrims to start venturing to Montserrat.
Pilgrims from all over started arriving to see the Madonna as they were fascinated by the stories of her discovery. In the 1200s, a boys choir was founded to sing to the Virgin of Montserrat daily.
In 1409, the monastery of Montserrat became an independent abbey.
In 1493, the word of the monastery grew as one of the monks, Bernal Boil, ventured to America with Christopher Columbus. The worship of the Mother of God spread to the Americas, growing the importance of Montserrat as more people became interested in the stories and were eager to visit.
In the early 1800s, Montserrat was destroyed by Napoleon’s army. The monastery was burnt down but the monks later returned to begin the rebuilding of the city.
They also faced another violent obstacle during the Spanish Civil War, which resulted in the killing of 23 monks.
The Catalonia government managed to save Montserrat, leading the remaining monks to return and continue reconstructing the monastery. This Catalonian resistance became a powerful symbol for Catalans as they took pride in their strength to fight against oppression.
The monastery even performed mass in Catalan despite the government’s language ban.
Working as an employee at a nearby gift shop from the mountain, Mariana emphasized the importance of this city’s history to the Catalan culture.
“This will always be a sacred place to us Catalans,” Mariana said. “Everything about this place is a symbol of our history, religion, and culture.”
In the 1800s, four chapels were built on Montserrat Mountain: St Mary’s, St. Iscle’s, St. Peter’s, and St. Martin’s. These four chapels were inhabited by monks that lived a life dedicated to prayer. The St. Iscle’s chapel is the only chapel that still stands today.
In 1987, Montserrat Mountain was established as a natural park. Montserrat attracts visitors from all over the world not only for its spiritual and religious significance, but simply because of its natural beauty.
In fact, many Americans today make it a priority to pay a visit to Montserrat when traveling to Spain.
On vacation with her family from Maryland, United States, Lily went hiking up the mountain to see La Cruz de San Miguel, a huge cross that stands on Montserrat Mountain.
“I made sure coming to Montserrat was on my to do list when visiting Barcelona,” Lily said. “Seeing the cross of San Miguel and the Black Madonna made me feel really connected to this city.”
Whether you are Catalan, Catholic, or none of the above, the Montserrat Monastery is a really special place. It holds sacred religious teachings that date back to the 9th century and structures that attract visitors from all over the world. Who knew a mountain range could hold this much history?
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