The amount of material hauled to the Montserrat mountaintop with medieval technology is breathtaking.
This Cathedral and the neighboring Benedictine monk compound were built around the Black Madonna statue… as was the Catalan cult of the Virgin of Montserrat.
This is the view that the statue has looking down to the nave.
Each year, millions of pilgrims (and the occasional Pope) climb the mountain to pay homage to the 3 ft. tall dark statue that is said to have been made by St. Luke and brought to Montserrat by St. Peter in AD 50.
Carbon dating indicates that she was carved from 12th Century trees. This must be one of the many miracles associated with the statue. =)
I am off on a different pilgrimage of sorts, to the brain spa of TED. Will bring cameras.
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