An unexpected range
European paintings and modern Catalan work alongside religious art, in a monastery museum.
Михаил Бернгардт — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Francesco Bini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Francesco Bini — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Francesco Bini — CC BY-SA 4.0
If you care about art, yes, because the collection is stronger than the setting suggests. If the monastery and the mountain are the point, you can skip it without much loss, especially if your time up there is fixed by return timetables.
A train from Barcelona to the foot of the mountain, then the rack railway or the cable car up. Combined tickets covering transport and entry exist and may be cheaper. Allow a full day, since timetables are seasonal and the journey is long both ways.
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An art museum inside the Montserrat monastery complex, about fifty kilometres from Barcelona among the serrated rock formations the area is known for. The collection is far broader than a monastery museum suggests. Alongside icons and religious art, it holds paintings by well-known European artists and a body of modern Catalan work, plus a section of ancient Near Eastern antiquities given by collectors over the decades. That range is the real surprise of the place. The museum completes a visit rather than justifying one. Most people who come up to Montserrat come for the monastery itself, the Black Madonna and the mountain setting. But if you are already up here with an hour to spare, this is the best way to spend it in the complex. Access is by train from Barcelona and then rack railway or cable car to the top. The round trip takes at least half a day, so plan a full day and do not try to compress it.
European paintings and modern Catalan work alongside religious art, in a monastery museum.
A collection of ancient Near Eastern material given by collectors, entirely unexpected in this setting.
Come up for the monastery and the mountain, and let the museum be the hour in between.
Montserrat monastery complex, Montserrat