Monument to Abbot Olive

Monument to the founder of Montserrat Monastery, Abbot Olive. Abbot Oliva (Oliba) (971–1046) was the greatest figure of Catalan Benedictineism, abbot of many monasteries, bishop of Vica, great scholar, poet and writer.

A bronze sculpture of the abbot was installed in the square in 1992. The modern-style thin figure is the work of Catalan sculptor Manuel Cusachs (born 1933). Olive is represented sitting on a chair, on the back of which are depicted the bell towers of the monasteries of Ripoll and Saint-Michel-de-Cucha, of which he was also an abbot. In his left hand, the abbot holds the plan of the first Romanesque church of Montserrat, and the right, according to Benedictine tradition, greets all pilgrims and guests of the monastery.