Montserrat Monastery and Easy mountain Santa Cova walk

About Montsearrat Easy Santa Cova walk

Santa Cova is a small chapel (built 1696 - 1705) cut from the side of the mountain and is accessible via a 1.42 km path from Montserrat Monastery.

It is important to remain silent when walking in and around the chapel. There is a smaller chapel within the Chapel of the Holy Cave, it is cross-shaped and supported by the rock formation of the mountain. This is where the original Holy Cave was. Here, to the right of the altar, you will find a reproduction of the Sacred Image. This is a reproduction of the original Black Madonna that was built inside the Basilica of Montserrat.

Above the image in the chapel is a hemispherical dome. This allows the light to illuminate the area where the image is located.

The chapel was damaged during the Napoleonic Wars (1811 - 1812). Francesc de Paula del Villar I Lozano planned the restoration of the chapel in 1857. The work began in October 1856 and ended in December 1859.

in 1994 a forest fire destroyed the roofs next to the chapel and cloister. This resulted in damage to the floor, furniture, and other areas of the chapel. The following autumn, heavy rains caused a huge rock slide on the access path to Santa Cova as the forest fire removed the plant life that was supporting the rocks.

A project to restore Santa Cova by the architect Arcadi Pla I Masmiquel in 1995 began in 1996. However, on September 5, 1995, heavy rains caused a movement in the skylight of the dome of the chapel. This would have been due to the fact that previous forest fires had damaged the base. This made everything collapse. The same architect put together a second design and completely restored the Holy Cave. It was opened on March 19, 1997.

The route starts next to the Montserrat Monastery Cremallera station and takes a path leading down past the Aeri de Montserrat cable car station. The path passes via numerous sculptures and shrines including the wrought iron catholic cross.

The access path, called Cami Santa cova and Cami Rosari, from the monastery is a concrete walkway with a small amount of descent and ascent to reach the Santa Cova chapel. Return back to the monastery via the same path. There is a funicular service (Santa Cova Funicular) that can be used to skip the uphill section.

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Visiting Montsearrat Easy Santa Cova walk

The Montserrat tourism website lists Santa cova as the Holy Grotto with opening hours of 10:30h to 15:30h.

Accessibility, mobility & Clothing for Montsearrat Easy Santa Cova walk

This is a short walking route not far from the monastery and predominantly in the shade so I always do it with a small rucksack of the essentials. Emergency waterproof jacket is optional depending on the weather forecast.

Take 1 or more litres of water because there is nowhere to top up water bottle along the route, however water is available at the drinking fountains or in the monastery cafeteria.

Day Trip Rucksack

Small 10L day trip and museums rucksack

Convertible Trousers

Lightweight convertible trousers that zip down to shorts

Trail shoes

Lightweight comfortable trail shoes

Summer socks

Ankle spring/summer socks

Fleece jacket or Jersey

Light weight warm fleece

Mid layer Top

Light weight cotton quick dry T-shirt

0.8L water bottle

Reusable, refillable 1L water bottle.

Emergency Poncho

Small folded lightweight Water proof poncho for emergencies

Getting to Montsearrat Easy Santa Cova walk

Address: Monestir de Montserrat, Monestir de Montserrat. 08199

This was a short walk I did as part of a Montserrat Monastery visit. On this occasion I used the FGC cremallera de Montserrat to get to the monastery. Equally valid is the Aeri de Montserrat Cable car to get to the monastery.

The quickest way is to get the FGC train From Plaza Espana to Aeri de Montserrat and transfer onto the Aeri de Montserrat cable car. This is my recommended route as it offers the most scenic views and has a journey time of 6 minutes.

However there is also a slower and less scenic Montserrat cremallera rack railway train for people that suffer from vertigo and cannot use the cable car. The Cremallera departs from Monistrol de Montserrat and arrives at Montserrat monastery via Monistrol vila with a journey time of 30 minutes.

Both Aire de Montserrat and Monistrol De Montserrat stations are on the FGC LLobregat Anoia R5 and R50 lines.

For ticket prices visit the Aeri de montserrat or cremmalera page.

Documents for Montsearrat Easy Santa Cova walk

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