Flight from Egypt as depicted in stained glass inside Montserrat.

There is no real tour inside the church, but most visitors continue in a line to see some of what is inside. We walked past this column.

The line of visitors were seeking La Moreneta. Pope Leo XIII declared her the patroness of Barcelona. It is thought to have been carved in the 12th century, with a Romanesque style.

Mostly encased in glass, the outstretched hand has been touched by thousands of visitors. La Moreneta of Montserrat is one of only a few Black Madonnas known to exist. That entire area of the church is amazing. Again, no flash allowed, so many of the pictures I took did not turn out good enough to share here.

As I turned around, after viewing the Madonna, this was my view of the sanctuary as it began to welcome visitors who were there to experience the singing of the boys choir.

Our waking tour took us past the Ave Maria Path for Sinners, there was also one for the dead.

Finally, we are there. This is my view of the Montserrat Altar and La Moreneta (high above at the rear). The view was good until the floodlights were turned on and then it became spectacular.

I took lots of pictures inside the church. When I endeavored to put my captions on each picture, I had to do much research to try to put the correct information with each one.

I believe that this depiction of the Immaculate Conception is by Josep Pericas, who is known more as an architect and a contemporary of Antoni Gaudi.

There are places to eat at Montserrat. I walked around while others got some lunch. This view is of Barcelona (not the close town, but the city far away) from near the church.

We will return to Barcelona after our visit to Santa Maria de Montserrat.

As I said before, beauty created by hard labor without the help of modern technology

Jim , beautiful pictures, Lol, you must be light on your feet and have a good eye to capture these pictures on your short shore trips.Good work.
Living here in Silicon Valley, where the emphasis is on all things new, it is so nice to see some of the history of the former generations.
Lilo's comments about " created by hard labor " rings a bell.