Montserrat of "Serrated Mountains"

 

The word of the day is timelessness.

Imagine a serrated knife. Something like a bread knife or a steak knife. Look at the pictures below. This is Montserrat or serrated mountain. We have not seen a more perfectly named mountain.

From the Monastery

From the other side of the mountain.

 The mountain is known for the still functioning Franciscan monastery that has been there for 1,000 years. Partially destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, the Franciscans have rebuilt it. Protected, high in the mountain, it is not easily accessible. We took a bus to the base and a special electric train that has replaced the old cog-wheel train for the last few miles up.

 This place is sacred to the Catalans. As it is the highest mountain in their region. Something like Mt Evans to a Coloradan. We did not get a good picture of the monastery since, before we realized it, we were too close to capture it.  

 The basilica, like most European cathedrals, is very dark inside and has chapels surrounding the main nave. This made me think back on other cathedrals we have seen throughout Europe, and on the Sagrada Familia in particular. One thing we noticed when we were in Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is that there are no chapels surrounding the nave. The walls go almost to the ground. This is unusual for a cathedral. It allows for the natural light to enter the church from the east and the west. Light, filtered only by the stained-glass windows, provided the color and the feeling that color gives. Contrast that with the darkness of this basilica and the feeling is very different.  

 

 The lighted area at the very center of this picture, and above the altar, is for a statue called “The Black Madonna.” It is a statue that was found in a cave. The story is that the Madonna is black from being in the cave with Pilgrams visiting and lighting candles to pray to the Madonna. No one really knows. Our theory is that it could be that it is crafted of black rock since there seems to be an abundance of black granite rock in Spain. Pilgrams still make the pilgrimage to pray to the Black Madonna.

 

 

 

Our tour of Montserrat also included a visit to the Oller del Mas vineyards and winery. We did a wine tasting inside an old castle that is part of a property that has been in the same family for 37 generations. Founded in 964.

If you look at the crest on the photo of the napkin below, you will see three pots. The family business was pottery until around 2002 when they started the vineyards and winery. They have about 600 hectares of grapes in the surrounding area. That’s around 1,400 acres.

 

There is something very centering about being in a place that has seen over a millennium of continued use by the same family. It shows the juxtaposition of the significance of one generation in changing the 1,000-year-old family business, versus the insignificance of one lifetime in 1,000 years. Although, one could argue that skipping any of those 37 generations would negate the "significance." One of the beauties of being in Europe, like being in Santa Fe or Chaco Canyon, is the beauty of its timelessness.