Silver – Haiku 2024 #ThursdayDoors

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inPoetryTags:
Left half door. Entrance to the Shrine of The Virgin of Montserrat in Basilica at Santa Maria De Montserrat, Spain. Image credit: © David Pillow | Dreamstime

words hewn in silver

and the rock that builds two churches

cannot be moved

**

#ThursdayDoors is on hiatus this week but I felt led to post this week.

*

Perched atop the same mountain range from which the rocks used to build Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral were sourced, stands the Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery in Catalonia, Spain, established in 1025 A.D.

Rebuilt several times in the Middle Ages due to various calamities, the Basilica at Santa Maria De Montserrat is a pilgrimage site housing the famous “The Virgin of Monsterrat” or La Moreneta statue. Reasons for this famous wooden statue’s dark patina have been a topic of scholarly debate but no one knows for sure.

The featured doors are the entrance to the upper-level stairs housing The Virgin of Montserrat statue called the Throne Room. [The feature Image above is the left door. The right door is shown below]


Right half door. Entrance to the Shrine of The Virgin of Montserrat in Basilica at Santa Maria De Montserrat, Spain. Image credit: © David Pillow | Dreamstime

The Featured Doors: are each made from a sheet of silver and sculpted in a process called repoussee carving.

Repoussee is formed by pounding the reverse of the desired sculpture details into the back of a sheet of silver. The result is a smooth shiny positive and raised sculpture on the outer side of the sheet of silver.

The right entrance door’s inscription quotes: “She hid these (things) in her heart” (Luke 2:19).

The figure on the right door is Luke, with his tools with which, it is believed, he carved the Virgin of Montserrat statue in Jerusalem.

And, the left door’s inscription quotes: “To the disciple, here is your mother (John 19:27). The figure on this door is John carrying a book.

The main entrance to the Basilica is shown below. **The floor pattern is a reproduction of Michelangelo’s design on the Piazza Campidoglio in Rome.

Main entrance, Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery, Catalonia, Spain. Image credit: © Alfredo Garcia Saz | Dreamstime

Trivia #1: The story of how the statute of the Virgin of Montserrat came to reside at the Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery goes as follows:

One late evening in 880 A.D. a group of shepherds from a nearby town were guarding their flocks on Montserrat’s mountains. Suddenly they saw a large flash of light emanating from one of the many caves in the hillside.

The shepherds subsequently ran to the Bishop and informed him of the event.

The next day the group along with the bishop, entered the cave and there they discovered the statue of The Virgin of Montserrat (wood-carved Virgin Mary with baby Jesus seated in her lap).

And then…rumor has it that upon picking up the statute, to the shepherds’ surprise, the statue grew heavier and heavier until it could no longer be moved.

Thus on that miraculous spot a small chapel, Santa Maria was built. Later, in the eleventh century, the first Basilica was built in the same spot.

Trivia #2: Dan Brown set the first chapter of his book “Origin” the fifth book in his The Da Vinci Code series, at Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery.

*Fun fact and perhaps a bit “out there” is the legend of the Montserrat mountains. Their unusual formations of calcareous outcroppings, underground aquifers, and labyrinthine caves have earned the area the reputation, according to some, as a place of supernatural energy/occurrences some of which allegedly have been documented by eyewitnesses.

The Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery‘s immenseness can be seen in the images below:

Aerial Panorama view: Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery. Image credit: © Davidzean | Dreamstime
Drone footage of the parking lots and Entrance road. Basilica at Santa Maria de Montserrat Monastery, Catalan, Spain. Image credit: © Davidzean | Dreamstime

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Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

49 thoughts on “Silver – Haiku 2024 #ThursdayDoors”

  1. Pingback: Silver – Haiku 2024 #ThursdayDoors | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  4. Fabulous haiku and post. Those silver doors are amazing. Interesting trivia too. I forgot there was no Thursday doors today, but no matter, I am in a rhythm.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. They look so well maintained, I supect that witj all the people traffic it takes quite the labor of love to keep them looking so fabulous.
      Glad you found the share of interest, Grace. Thank you. Happy Thursday!! And Happy World Poetry Day!

      Liked by 2 people

  13. ✒️Reasons for this famous wooden statue’s dark patina have been a topic of scholarly debate but no one knows for sure.✒️

    This is really a very interesting chapter in the history of the cathedrals and their unique doors. I have also read that the wooden sculptured image of the Virgin Mary that was carved in Jerusalem is called the Black Madonna.

    ✒️The figure on the right door is Luke, with his tools with which, it is believed, he carved the Virgin of Montserrat statue in Jerusalem.✒️

    ah you mention it, what’s fascinating is the fact that Luke was actually a physician and I’m thinking that sculpting must’ve been his passion.

    ✒️featured doors✒️

    you haven’t quite left the topic. The main entrance to the Monastery is absolute stunning

    ✒️And then…rumor has it that upon picking up the statute, to the shepherds’ surprise, the statue grew heavier and heavier until it could no longer be moved.✒️

    This is an absolutely fascinating account

    and there she resides; mountain, monastery and sanctuary.

    ✒️and the rock that builds two churches cannot be moved✒️

    A thought-provoking insight

    Beautifully carved.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Your comments are always so insightful and thoughtfully presented. Yes one name common to the statue is The Black Madonna.
      Great point about Luke as a phsican his skills could lend themselves to a passion for artwork. Fascinating thought!!

      Yes the two churches used the same rock for their construction: Downtown Barcelona Sagrada Familla and This Basilica and Monstery in the mountains both used its building blocks/rocks for their construction.
      ‘The Rock” being…the cornerstone..

      The Main entrances is fabulous…that could be its own post…perhaps another time.

      Thank you!
      Thursday greetings to you!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. So inspiring you take me on a journey of inquiry Poet. I really enjoy exploring these doors. Thursday Offerings are full of information and I’m so thankful that you consistently bring these weekly gems to us.
        Needless to say that I am in awe of these chapters.
        Yes it just came to me when you mentioned Luke. We have our own revered impressions of the disciples and yet they are like us by the things they loved doing in their daily lives. The fact that he sculptured makes him so wonderfully human.
        “The Rock the cornerstone” – Amen
        Fabulous indeed and does deserve a special post.
        You are most welcome
        Have a lovely Thursday too.

        Liked by 1 person

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