Catalonia's most renowned monastery was founded in 1025 to commemorate visions of the Virgin Mary, accompanied by celestial light and a chorus of holy music, experienced by shepherds. The monastery complex encompasses two blocks: on one side, the basilica and monastery buildings (housing a religious community of more than 100), and on the other, facilities for tourists and pilgrims. Admirable monastery architecture in Plaça de Santa Maria includes a gleaming late-19th-century facade depicting St George and St Benedict in relief, and 15th-century cloisters.
Most visitors make a beeline for the basilica to venerate La Moreneta (the 'Little Brown One' or 'Black Virgin'), a 12th-century Romanesque wooden sculpture of Mary with the baby Jesus (and Catalonia's official patroness since 1881).
