A thousand years ago, monks from Ripoll founded the Montserrat monastery. They could not imagine that ten centuries later that place would still exist, after having been on the verge of disappearing. And even less that it would become the most emblematic sanctuary in Catalonia. An exhibition at the Palau Robert in Barcelona commemorates the thousand years of its foundation and can be visited until January 6.
The essence of Montserrat
Through interactive immersive tools, audiovisual pieces and digital technology scenographic resources, the exhibition proposes a contemporary look that allows understanding the essence of Montserrat as a monastery and sanctuary, its evolution and how it has become one of the great reference symbols of Catalonia. The feelings of many generations form the thread of the history of this majestic mountain that keeps its spirit alive and unaltered.
Montserrat, behind closed doors
The exhibition takes visitors to normally inaccessible spaces inside the abbey. Hand in hand with virtual reality, the public will be able to walk through the rooms reserved for the monks and get closer to the mysterious monastic life, marked by contemplation and silence. Understanding the keys to this lifestyle, based on the search for God, and accessing the cloister or the private quarters of this religious community, allows discovering a little-known and fundamental side of Montserrat.
The heart of Montserrat, its essential core, is the Benedictine monastery, founded a thousand years ago, which is also the sanctuary where the image of the Moreneta, patron saint of Catalonia, is preserved.
The Montserrat of all
The exhibition also explains the different ways of seeing and living Montserrat, through the expression of personal testimonies of many people who have established links with the abbey.
Montserrat is essential for many people of all kinds, from our country and abroad, famous and unknown, and of different ages and profiles. In the exhibition, people speak to explain their links with Montserrat.
What makes Montserrat such a special place for so many different people? The Moreneta, the monastic community, faith and spirituality, the Escolania, the natural environment, sport, culture, links with Catalan identity, traditions...? Everyone has their reasons for maintaining a personal and, often, intense relationship with Montserrat.
The millennial celebration began on September 7 with the institutional inauguration in Montserrat and will end on December 8, 2025, with a millennial Te Deum.In Montserrat, the landscape meets history, culture, and the popular and shared memory of many Catalans.
Reference point
A visit to the exhibition Montserrat, 1.000 anys allows visitors to understand why history has made it a reference point for many people. The free exhibition is located in room 3 of the Palau Robert in Barcelona, and the intention is to make it a traveling exhibition that reaches other places.
All of this has been the result of collaboration between the Directorate General of Diffusion of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Abbey of Montserrat on the occasion of the thousand years since the monastery's founding, and with the support of the Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Provincial Council. The celebration of the monastery's millennium began on September 7 with the institutional inauguration in Montserrat and will end on December 8, 2025, with a millennial Te Deum.