el Mont
Peak · 1124.8 m · Girona
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El Mont rises to 1,125 metres, the highest point of the eastern Alta Garrotxa on the Alt Empordà-Garrotxa border. Its summit carries the Santuari de la Mare de Déu del Mont, built in 1311-1318 around a found Gothic alabaster image later venerated as patroness of the Empordà. In 1884 the poet Jacint Verdaguer spent six weeks here writing part of his epic Canigó, visible from the summit.
Two paved roads reach the summit, one climbing from Cabanelles through forest before opening onto mountain views, the other rising from Besalú past the village of Beuda with pitches that swing past 10% near the top. Local legend holds that a shepherd's ox kept striking the ground at one spot on the mountain until he investigated and found a cave holding an image of the Virgin, later moved first to the monastery below and then to the sanctuary. Veneration of the image as patroness of the Empordà and the Diocese of Girona is documented from at least 1222, nearly a century before the current sanctuary went up on the summit. Anarchist militias destroyed the sacred artworks inside during the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and a new sculpture was installed for the sanctuary's 700th anniversary in 2011. The road used by the climb today was only completed in 1971.
What you see
On clear days the summit view sweeps from the Pyrenees to Lake Banyoles and the Costa Brava coastline.
Practical
The Cabanelles side climbs on smooth, consistent pavement; the Besalú approach through Beuda turns unpredictable near the top, swinging from a descent to double-digit gradients within a single corner. Both roads narrow near the summit, and can close for a few days in heavy winter weather.
part of: Cafés at the foot of the climbviewpointpilgrimage sitesanctuary