The mountain of Montserrat is the most important and mysterious mountain of Catalonia. Its name comes from the word mont, mountain, and the word serrat, mountain range.
It is located west of the river Llobregat between Bages, Anoia and Baix Llobregat.
It is a small mountain range 10km long by 5 wide. Its most important peaks are: Peak San Jeroni of 1236m and the 1144m peak of San Salvador.
For thousands years of tectonic movements, the weather and erosion changes have finished modeling it in sharp relief with rounded walls and blocks of clay conglomerate creating caves and streams.
Is said that is a magic mountain because there are stories that tell that Virgin of Montserrat, apparently was found for some shepherds on the highest part of the mountain and they tried to bring her to the village to let people worship her, but she always appeared in the location where was found. For this reason the monastery of Montserrat was built at the top of the mountain of Montserrat, as she chose it. The tradition of walk up on foot to venerate the Virgin starts since the Middle Ages, most certainly felt when they walked up the sacred abode of the gods. Today many groups go up by foot every year.
In 1950 it was founded the Patronage of the Mountain of Montserrat to perform conservation and restoration and in 1987 was declared a nature park to protect the unique massif in the world for its geological features.
It is a sedimentary massif, the rocks are very hard and resistant to erosion, although wind and rain over time have shaped needles or monoliths into very different ways. The popular imagination has been associated with the contours of human figures or animals giving them names and invented legends explaining its origin fantastic (Horse Bernat, Agulles (Needles), Montgrōs, Serrat del Moro, Sant Joan, the Palomera (dovecot) ...)
The predominant vegetation in Montserrat is the oak, typically Mediterranean. However, climatic differences that occur in the massif makes that we find species of dry places with other of cool and moist environments. There are oak, pines and yews. It has also more than 1250 different species of plants and some species that live on the surfaces of rocks, such as ear or bear or the crown of queen.
The fauna is very diverse, the most viewed are the thrush, the hawk, squirrel, wild goat, pig, wild boar and the salamander among others.
Another of the most famous events of mountain is dated on June 6, 1808, when a French battalion from went to Bruc at the Mountain pass of Casa Massana to Manresa. When they aproximate were attacked by Catalan guerrilla bands forcing the French troops to undertake the withdrawal. On June 14 there was the second battle of Bruc with the same result as the first, finishing with the myth of invincibility of the army of Napoleon. The people of Bruc relive the festival each year.