Car Employ Spain - Barcelona
Barcelona is popular mainly because of its links with Gaudi, its museums, its shops and its nightlife, and is usually a terrific spot for a vacation or brief break. Even so, should you employ a car after you are in Barcelona, you may also take a look at a number of the excellent attractions that lie outside with the city. Get extra data about Manresa
Barcelona to the Monastery of Montserrat
If you are on a car hire holiday in Barcelona, you could take a break from the hustle and bustle in the city by jumping in your employ car and driving to Montserrat, one of your highest mountains in the Prelitoral Catalana range. The mountain is named after its jagged appearance, with Montserrat translating as "Saw-toothed Mountain" or "Serrated Mountain", and one of its most important attractions would be the Monestir de Montserrat (Monastery of Montserrat).
Driving from Barcelona to Montserrat
It'll take you about 90 minutes to drive to Montserrat from Barcelona in your hire car. To get there, head out of Barcelona on the Avinguda Diagonal and take the B-23 motorway. Take the A2 motorway and leave in the Manresa exit. Take the C-55 to Monistrol de Montserrat and then either park your employ car there and take the cable car or railway towards the sanctuary, or take the BP-1103 to Montserrat. There is certainly restricted parking out there in the sanctuary.
The Monastery of Montserrat
The Monastery of Montserrat was founded by Olbia (the Abbot of Ripal and Bishop of Vic) in 1025 to be able to mark the location exactly where the religious icon of Our Lady of Montserrat (also called La Moreneta, or "the Dark One"), now the Patron Saint of Catalonia, was found.
Legend has it that this statue of your Virgin Mary was brought to Montserrat by St. Peter and hidden within a cave. It was discovered by shepherds in 880, following a series of visions, and although the Bishop of Manresa ordered that it really should be taken to Manresa, it became too heavy to carry as quickly as any one attempted to move it. He took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary didn't wish the statue to be moved, and so ordered a chapel to be built to honour her.
The statue at present housed in the shrine in the monastery's basilica is really a 12th century Romanesque carving.
You are able to take a tour in the monastery's Open Air Museum using the audio-guides and maps out there out of your car hire company. There are actually four routes accessible: the initial will take you around the monastery's most considerable buildings, like the basilica; the second will take you along the path that pilgrims used to work with to attain Montserrat; the third will take you for the Holy Grotto where Our Lady of Montserrat was discovered; and the fourth will take you on a tour of a number of the monastery's buildings and allow you to determine a number of monuments.
You can also visit the Museum of Montserrat, which consists of six permanent art collections; see the interactive "Inside Montserrat" exhibition; go to the Montserrat Library, which houses more than 300,000 books and manuscripts; take a break out of your hire car with a trip on one in the two funicular railways; or hike within the surrounding region, which can be a designated nature park.
