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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