Monistrol de Montserrat

The Montserrat rack railway covers the five kilometers between Monistrol de Montserrat and Montserrat. It is a route that takes you to the top of Catalonia’s most emblematic mountain, which is visible from all angles thanks to the panoramic view offered by the train’s large windows. Its history dates back to 1891, when Joaquim Carrera, an engineer who was passionate about Montserrat and Swiss mountain trains, convinced an entrepreneur to build a train between the recently-opened Monistrol de Montserrat station and the monastery.

Montserrat

Montserrat Natural Park is a natural space dominated by the characteristic silhouette of its eponymous mountain, a rocky massif of sandstone and extremely hard calcareous cement that over millions of years has adopted its peculiar and recognisable form. The Holy Cave, the Sant Joan and Sant Miquel chapels, and above all, Montserrat Abbey, make this place, which is just a short distance from Barcelona, an unmissable destination. Montserrat is nicknamed the ‘magic mountain’ due to the numerous legends it has generated. The first of them is the discovery of the wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, which is reputed to have been found in the so-called Santa Cova or Holy Cave in 880. Another legend tells of a woodcutter who made a pact with the Devil to receive a fast horse to carry his wood.