Montbau, a Barcelona neighbourhood at the foothills of the Collserola mountain range
A guided tour includes visits to the more emblematic sites of Montbau, such as the Saint Cyprian and Saint Justin hermitage
The Rutes Històriques (Historic Tours) of Horta-Guinardó are a series of routes that allow participants to (re)discover the rich cultural heritage of the district. To be more specific, ten distinctive historic, scenic and ethnographic routes are available, each of which focusses on a particular region.
One of these routes is "Montbau. El barri muntanyenc d'Horta-Guinardó" (The mountain district of Horta-Guinardó), which includes part of the district which, in 2010, celebrated the 50th anniversary of its construction and includes a series of characteristic elements that make it unique. Not only does 60% of the district lie within the Collserola Nature Park but, due to its peculiar origins in 1959 and the evolution of the area since then, it remains one of the more unusual areas of Barcelona.
One of the most emblematic sites included in the tour, at the most northerly point of the region, is the hermitage of Saint Cyprian and Saint Justin. Climbing the Saint Cyprian pathway, where the tour begins and where we are already within the Collserola mountain range, we come across this pre-Roman hermitage, a rectangular chapel of little more than five metres in length with a small building attached to the northern wall. Tradition has it that Saint Francis of Assisi (13th century), Saint Ignatius of Loyola (16th century) and Francis Xavier all visited the chapel. Historical research has revealed links between the chapel and the foundation of the Order of Minims.
In addition, participants may also visit other peculiarities of the region, such as the Font d’en Fargues, La Clota i la Teixonera, El Carmel or the Parc del Guinardó, among others.