This heavenly Benedictine abbey perched high on the mountain of Montserrat is just 30 miles west of Barcelona. Santa Maria de Montserrat is a symbol of Catalan nationalism, having served as a sanctuary for scholars, artists, politicians and students during the dictatorship of Franco, and houses the statue of the Black Madonna, patron saint of Catalonia. It is Catalonia’s most important religious retreats to which young Catalonians make an overnight hike at least once in their lives.
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