La Mola – Exercise and Romanesque Monastery Visit
Near Barcelona city is a great place to spend the day and be able to exercise: La Mola mountain, in Matadepera’s municipality. At only 30-40 min. drive from Barcelona, La Mola combines the beauty of the landscape of Vallès Occidental in Barcelona province with what can be considered a ‘decent’ altitude. Such altitude (La Mola is the highest mountain in Sant Llorenç del Munt National Park) allows the visitor, in the frequent sunny days the area enjoys, to enjoy the fantastic panoramic views (almost 360º) of Barcelona’s province. Cities like Terrassa, Sabadell and Castellar del Vallès, for example, can be seen clearly in the distance.
La Mola is an already popular destination for those who want to spend a day outdoors, stretch their legs and in general leave behind their sedentary life for a while. It offers a great variety of trekking routes; the “Camí dels Monjos” (in Catalan, “Monks’ Path”), the main route of ascent, is well looked after and does not offer any climbing difficulties. The ascent, or walk up, is easy and short (in 45 min. one can be at the top, easily), although La Mola offers many alternative routes of varying difficulty (through the Canal de Can Pobla, from El Coll d’Estenalles, Montcau or Cavall Bernat, just to mention a few), which will provide a bigger challenge for the fitter in the group.
In La Mola’s peak is Sant Llorenç del Munt Monastery, (XI c. building, a great example of religious Catalan architecture of the Romanesque), nowadays re-converted into a museum-restaurant. It has become good bait for the large affluence of excursionists and families to the area. The restaurant has an area with oversized windows which provide customers with great views of the valleys surrounding La Mola, and which no other aspect of the restaurant manages to improve upon.
Indeed, the à-la-carte menu is basically grilled meats and vegetables, which unfortunately are a long way from the culinary standards normally associated to the inland provinces of Catalonia. If we add the non-existent wine options (one white, one red, table wine) and the chaos of the service one has to endure during the weekends, you will understand our recommendation of bringing your own food from home. You will also be spared to having to confront a bill that’s way overpriced –the only explanation we imagine is the altitude and the difficult access of both people and supplies to the restaurant, which might account for the age, inexperience and lack of enthusiasm of waiters on the one hand, and the unrealistic prices in the menu on the other.
All in all, La Mola is a great one-day trip option, especially during Spring and Autumn, which will make us forget for a while about the madness of the crowds in the big city.
Kilometres: 5,5
Duration of ascent: 45 min.
Starting point: Drive up Passeig del Pla until Plaça del Pla de Sant Llorenç. Take Cavall Bernat St. until Belles Roques St. (at your right). Following this Street, we reach Viatalegre St. (to your right again). At the end of the road we can park the car and we start up the path where we will see a sign post marking the “Camí dels Monjos”.
Sign-Posted: Yes
Level: Easy
Tags: Barcelona province · One-day trips · Open-air visit · Outdoors · Popular places · Walks
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