Montserrat (mountain) which are visible from a great distance. The mountain is composed of strikingly pink conglomerate, a form of sedimentary rock. Montserrat was designated as a National Park in 1987. In 1493, Christopher Columbus named the Caribbean island of Montserrat "Santa Maria de Montserrate", after the "Virgin of Montserrat". The Benedictine Abbey can be reached by road, by the Aeri de Montserrat cable car, or by the Montserrat Rack Railway. The lower stations of both the rack railway and the cable car can be reached by Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya train from Barcelona's Plaça d'Espanya station. From the abbey,
Montserrat that sent pyroclastic flows down several sides of the mountain. Travel into parts of the exclusion zone is occasionally allowed, though only by a licence from the Royal Montserrat Police Force. The northern part of Montserrat has largely been unaffected by volcanic activity, and remains lush and green. In February 2005, The Princess Royal officially opened what is now called the John A. Osborne Airport in the north. Since 2011, it handles several flights daily operated by Fly Montserrat Airways. Docking facilities are in place at Little Bay, where the new capital town is being constructed; the new government centre