Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey

That donation included the churches of Santa Maria, Sant Iscle, Sant Pere and Sant Martí, with their boundaries. It should be noted that, at that time, the place of Santa Cecília, on the same mountain, which was more attractive to devotees at the time, was also in operation. Although it is quite possible that these churches were small monastic centers, Ripoll kept them as simple properties, like so many others. Oliba, the abbot of Ripoll, was forced to reclaim ownership of the churches in the face of Santa Cecília's attempts to take them over. This led to Santa Maria de Montserrat's monastic development.

In the 13th century, it still depended on Ripoll, with whom it had certain clashes. The prior of Montserrat was elected directly from that monastery. In 1287 the pope appointed Bernat Salvador, a monk from the abbey of Lagrasse (Languedoc), as the new prior of Montserrat, without Ripoll's intervention. This independence was apparent, since upon the death of Bernat Salvador both the pope and Ripoll appointed a successor on their own. The conflict with the duplicity of the post was resolved by the archbishop of Tarragona, leaving things as they were: submission to Ripoll. The prior Vicenç de Ribes was named cardinal and, apparently, at his request, Pope Benedict XIII succeeded in having Montserrat erected as an independent abbey in 1409.

All of this was lost with the fire and destruction caused by the Peninsular War (1811-12) and subsequent robberies. Attempts were made to redress the situation, but the monks were forced to disperse and could not return until 1824. Afterwards, the disentailment stripped the monastery of its properties, which were auctioned off. The community returned in 1844 and in 1862 the pope appointed a new abbot, disassociating it from San Benito de Valladolid, which had also disappeared. Since then, and still today, it has been under the Benedictine congregation of Subiaco. It is a very important centre for the development of religious and civic life in Catalonia. The oldest remains of the monastery that have been found should be dated to around the 11th century, and a 12th-century portal has also been preserved. Apart from the church and the cloister, most of the buildings date from the 19th and 20th centuries.