Barcelona - Day 3

Started the day with a guided tour visit to Montserrat, a multi-peaked rocky range with strange eroded rock formations giving a serrated appearance located about 50km northwest of Barcelona.

A Benedictine monastery, Santa Maria de Montserrat, is located in the range and is a holy place of pilgrimage for many Catalonians. The abbey holds the Virgin of Montserrat, also known as the Black Madonna (La Moreneta), a 12th century Romanesque wooden sculpture of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ.

On return from Montserrat we went on a guided tour of the cathedral La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family), designed by Antoni Gaudi. Originally started in 1880 by another architect, Gaudi took this on and devoted 43 years of his life to the building, dying by accident in 1926 before it was completed.

While the interior is completed, the exterior remains uncompleted today, although work continues and is targeted for completion in 2026, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of his death. Even while incomplete, it is a beautiful piece of architecture exhibiting Gaudi's very different style.

Lastly we were taken on a guide tour of the Old Town, which although we had visited the previous day was fascinating as we listened to our very knowledgeable local guide, Santiago.Read more