2 June, Sunday

Photo By: morgaga

SPAIN, Catalonia – Home of Catalonia’s patron saint, the famous Black Madonna, Montserrat Monastery is set amidst the beautiful Montserrat mountain range. The site has long held a position of spiritual significance, with the Romans building a shrine dedicated to Venus, and thereafter in 888, the construction of the first hermitage by hermit monks.

In 1025, the expansion of the hermitage of Santa Maria resulted in the founding of Montserrat Monastery. The continued appearance of miracles in the 12th Century were attributed to the legendary Black Madonna, which put the monastery on the maps of many famous pilgrims, including Pope Benedict XIII., Columbus, Cervantes, von Humboldt, King Fernando and Isabella, Carlos I, Felipe II. and Louis XIV.