Spain
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Spain |
| Text and photos by Michel Azéma |
Menu | The
Monastery | Santa Cova | Funicular
Aeri | Funicular Sant Joan | Funicular
Santa Cova
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The Monastery |
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At 50 kilometers from Barcelona to the northwest is the massif of Serra del Montserrat. This mountain is also called "La muntanya dels cent cims" (The 100 Peak Mountain). Nestled between the peaks for centuries the famous "Monestir de Montserrat" (Monastery of Montserrat) is the center of the Catalan faith. It contains and protects the "La Moroneta", the Black Madonna and a great collection of famous paintings.
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This site is one of the most tourist places of Catalonia
and the problem of the accessibility of the pilgrims and the tourists
was solved by the construction, in 1892, of a cog wheel train from Monistrol
de Montserrat to the Monastery and later a faster way was built with a
aerial cable car (gondolas) from a new train station down in the valley.
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The Monastery in the fifties. The photo shows the cog wheel train which was used to climb to the Monastery from Monistrol de Montserrat The train, built in 1892, does not exist anymore. The track of the old cog wheel train is now a footpath that you can use from the valley to the Monastery. On the left of the train you can see the building of the top station of the aerial cable way. Just above this building, the top station of the funicular of Santa Cova. (Old postcard, personal collection)
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Menu | The
Monastery | Santa Cova | Funicular
Aeri | Funicular Sant Joan | Funicular
Santa Cova
