The castle of Granyena is first mentioned in 1054, when Ramon Berenguer I granted the site to encourage its repopulation. In 1130 or 1131, Ramon Berenguer III gave the castle to the Knights Templar, who established there a strictly military defensive outpost. Although a community is already documented in 1136, the commandery of Granyena was not formally established until 1189.
When the Templar order was dissolved in 1312, the site passed to the Hospitallers, who retained it until well into the 19th century. The Templar and Hospitaller castle still stands in Granyena, though it has been heavily altered and is now largely in ruins. After the commandery’s final period, the site served various functions over time: cemetery, water reservoir, residential use, among others.
El Mas de Bondia (Montornès de Segarra)
El Mas de Bondia (Montornès de Segarra) was granted to the commandery of Granyena in 1181 by Alfonso the Chaste. This enclosed village is a small medieval urban nucleus, without defensive walls, in which the houses form a closed perimeter with a single access gate.
- BONNEAUD, Pierre (2009). Dos encomiendas hosptitalàrias de la Segarra (Cervera y Granyena) a finales de la edad media. Miscel·lània cerverina, núm. 19
- CARDONA, Ramon (2008). Intervenció arqueològica al castell de Granyena. Jornades de Treball del Grup de Recerques de les Terres de Ponent
- CATALÀ, Pere (1979). Els castells catalans. Vol. VI-1a part. Barcelona: R. Dalmau Ed.
- FREEDMAN, Paul H. (1983). Els templers al castell de Granyena segons un document de l’Arxiu Episcopal de Vic. Ausa, núm. 105
- FUGUET SANS, Joan (1997). Castell de Granyena. Catalunya romànica. Vol. XXIV: Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana
- FUGUET SANS, Joan (1997). Templers i hospitalers I. Barcelona: Rafael Dalmau Ed.
- PANCORBO, Ainhoa; VILA, Josep M. (2008). Estudi històric preliminar del castell de Granyena. Jornades de Treball del Grup de Recerques de les Terres de Ponent
- RUSIÑOL CAMBRAY, Eric (2011). Casa rural i centre excursionista a Granyena de Segarra. Projecte/Treball Final de Carrera. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
The castle stands at the highest point of the village of Granyena