The monastery terraces and Plaça de Santa Maria

The square in front of the basilica is the widest flat ground on the whole mountain, and it is where a Montserrat session starts. Stone paving, an arcaded gallery, the basilica facade on one side and, above everything, the rounded conglomerate towers that give the mountain its name.

The light here is directional and moves fast. Early morning throws the sun along the facade from the east and leaves the rock behind it in shadow; late afternoon reverses it and turns the towers pink. Midday is the one time to avoid — the square is open, pale and unforgiving.

The crowd is the real constraint. Coaches from Barcelona arrive from about ten, and by noon the square is a queue. The first rack railway or cable car of the day puts you here with the monks and the delivery vans, and that hour is worth the early alarm.

Step through the arch into the atrium and the Romanesque doorway for a sheltered second set that works in any weather, including the days when the massif is inside a cloud.