Visiting

Today, the Benedictine abbey perched halfway up the mountain, home to La Moreneta (the ‘black Virgin’ of Montserrat), continues to be popular amongst Catalans wanting to pay homage to the saint who is Catalunya’s official patron. Religion has also been important in the county capital, Manresa, since the founder of the Jesuits, Saint Ignatius, wrote his Spiritual Exercises there in the 16th century. Another significant, but secular, historical figure for the Catalans is Rafael Casanova, born in the Bages town of Moià. In the 18th century, Casanova led the besieged city of Barcelona against the Borbon troops surrounding it until the surrender on September 11th, 1714, which is now commemorated as Catalunya’s national day.

Economically, Bages has enjoyed periods of prosperity since the 13th century, thanks to its local resources and the efforts of its people. When faced by a drought in the 14th century, a canal was constructed with a series of aqueducts to bring water from the Llobregat river to Manresa. Although the plan was temporarily held up by the refusal of a local bishop to allow the canal to cross his lands, a miracle attributed to Montserrat made him change his mind and La Sèquia canal has functioned ever since. Following the interest in the area inspired by the work of Saint Ignatius, which saw the construction of buildings to his memory and workshops for religious art, Bages then found itself benefitting from the industrial revolution of the 19th and 20th centuries, with textiles, especially silk, being one of the main sources of income.

Away from the towns, Bages is full of hilly forests and striking rocky outcrops. Castles and Romanesque buildings dot the landscape, while in the natural park of Sant Llorenç there is a wide variety of rare and not-so-rare fauna and flora. And in the north-west of the county, there is the Cardona Salt Mountain.

Things to do

The capital of Bages, Manresa, is well-located at the crossroads of routes dividing the region. This position no doubt contributed to the prosperity enjoyed there through much of the last 1,000 years, which is reflected in the variety of buildings constructed on the back of the wealth made. Visitors can see examples of Baroque, medieval and Modernista architecture dotted around the town, as well as old factory chimneys. The town is set on a number of slopes, making for some very steep streets. This means that exploring is heavy going but worth the effort. On one of the upper parts is La Seu, a Gothic Basilica dating from the 14th century. The cavernous interior has an interesting selection of religious art including various altarpieces that are many centuries old. Not far from the Seu is the House of the Exercises, an enormous neo-Classical building marking the spot where, in the 16th century, Basque soldier Ignatius Loyola (later Saint Ignatius), who discovered his vocation in Manresa, wrote his Spiritual Exercises in a small cave, as a guide for the devout.