Car Hire Spain - Barcelona
Barcelona is famous because of its hyperlinks with Gaudi, its museums, its shops and its nightlife, and is really a good location to get a holiday or short break. Nonetheless, in case you employ a car after you are in Barcelona, you can also pay a visit to several of the terrific attractions that lie outdoors of the city. Get additional information about Manresa visit
Barcelona for the Monastery of Montserrat
If you are on a car employ vacation in Barcelona, you may take a break in the hustle and bustle on the city by jumping inside your employ car and driving to Montserrat, one of the highest mountains within the Prelitoral Catalana variety. The mountain is named after its jagged look, with Montserrat translating as "Saw-toothed Mountain" or "Serrated Mountain", and one of its major attractions will be the Monestir de Montserrat (Monastery of Montserrat).
Driving from Barcelona to Montserrat
It will take you about 90 minutes to drive to Montserrat from Barcelona within your employ car. To obtain there, head out of Barcelona around the Avinguda Diagonal and take the B-23 motorway. Take the A2 motorway and leave at the Manresa exit. Take the C-55 to Monistrol de Montserrat and then either park your hire car there and take the cable car or railway for the sanctuary, or take the BP-1103 to Montserrat. There is restricted parking readily available 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 in order to mark the place where the religious icon of Our Lady of Montserrat (also known as La Moreneta, or "the Dark One"), now the Patron Saint of Catalonia, was discovered.
Legend has it that this statue with the 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 even though the Bishop of Manresa ordered that it really should be taken to Manresa, it became also heavy to carry as quickly as everyone attempted to move it. He took this as a sign that the Virgin Mary didn't want the statue to become moved, and so ordered a chapel to be constructed to honour her.
The statue currently housed inside the shrine in the monastery's basilica is a 12th century Romanesque carving.
You can take a tour in the monastery's Open Air Museum using the audio-guides and maps obtainable out of your car hire company. You can find 4 routes available: the initial will take you about the monastery's most considerable buildings, which includes 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 found; and the fourth will take you on a tour of many of the monastery's buildings and enable you to see a number of monuments.
You could also visit the Museum of Montserrat, which includes six permanent art collections; see the interactive "Inside Montserrat" exhibition; go to the Montserrat Library, which houses greater than 300,000 books and manuscripts; take a break from your hire car using a trip on one from the two funicular railways; or hike within the surrounding location, which is a designated nature park.