![]() ![]() In Catalonia she’s popularly known as La Moreneta because the colour of her face and hands has darkened over the centuries. ![]() The twelfth-century Virgin of Montserrat is a highly expressive Romanesque sculpture. The image of the Virgin of Montserrat, crowned as patron saint of Catalonia by Pope Leo XIII in 1881, is housed in a large basilica designed to welcome pilgrims. ![]() The monastery’s name is derived from two Catalan words, mont and serrat in honour of its dramatic setting. Years later, Abbot Oliba, Bishop of Vic, ordered a monastery to be built at the hermitage. The origins of the abbey date from 888 and can be traced to the hermitage of Santa Maria where, according to legend, the Virgin appeared to some shepherd boys. The sanctuary of Montserrat is just 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Barcelona, set into the most emblematic mountain in Catalonia and surrounded by an incredible landscape that welcomes over two million visitors each year. ![]()
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