A Mountain, a Monastery And a Madonna

A Mountain, a Monastery And a Madonna

Montserrat is a mountain in Catalonia; it is close to Barcelona, in Spain. The photo is the site of a Benedictine abbey, it hosts the Virgin of Montserrat sanctuary which is one of the greatest religious shrines of Spain.   The monastery is built on a very peculiar rock formation jutting out of the relatively flat surroundings and looks pretty unreal from a distance.   The name "Montserrat" literally means "jagged mountain" and is used because of the peculiar aspect of the edifice.   It is composed of a strikingly pink stone that is a form of sedimentary rock. Only ruins are left of the old monastery. The present monastery was built in the 18th century and restored after being destroyed by French troops in 1812.   In the middle ages the mountain was thought to have been the site of the castle of the Holy Grail. The monastery is enclosed by the unusually shaped mountain around it, the color of the buildings blending well into the rocky embrace.   This place I visited, Montserrat, is one of the most amazing and beautiful locations I have ever seen.
When one looks at Montserrat from a distance, one can almost imagine that the surrounding mountains are giant stone soldiers guarding the monastery.   The stone from the mountain seems other worldly.   The color is a light pink in the bright afternoon sunlight.   There are small trees that must be some type of evergreens that grow out from the rock faces of the mountain.   As the sun moves and casts shadows on the stones, different faces seem to appear from the rocks. Some looked angelic and happy while some looked quite intimidating and protective of the monastery down below.   As I walked around the monastery, I was impressed by all the stone work of the buildings which is also noticeable from the picture.   The ruins had arches that looked to me like something they would build in the times of the Roman Empire.   The plaza had beautiful stone steps that bring you to a square. The walls surrounding the square looked like they were...