Mountain of Montserrat seen from Manresa
The mountain of Montserrat has been of religious significance since pre-Christian time. Before Christ a temple to worship Venus was built by the Romans. In the first written mention of 888 the adoption of the construction by the first monastery of 880 AD was reported. They were hermit monks, who built various hermitages on the Montserrat. The monastery was founded by expanding the hermitage of Santa Maria 1025.Miracles were attributed to the in the 12th Century found Black Madonna. It is still the target of pilgrimages. A strong growth period of the monastery is due to those miracles.
Numerous famous personalities pilgrimage to the Montserrat: Pope Benedigt XIII., Columbus, Cervantes, von Humboldt, King Fernando and Isabella, Carlos I, Felipe II. and Louis XIV..
Columbus named an Antilles island Montserrat on his second trip in 1493.
In 1811, the monastery was largely destroyed by Napoleonic troops. The Benedictine monastery was rebuilt.