The Castle of Sanaüja: A monument of national interest

The Castle of Sanaüja, protected as a Bé Cultural d'Interès Nacional, stands tall on a hill over the town of Sanaüja in Segarra. In 951, Sanaüja was conquered by the count of Urgell. It was documented in 1001 in a bulla regarding the fortress, and in 1012, the possession of the territory was confirmed by Benet VIII. The territory was organized during the 11th century, and the castle attained strategic importance in the defensive line of the Llobregós valley established in 1035.

Over time, the castle changed hands. In 1072, Guillem de Cerdanya ceded a portion of the possessions in Sanaüja to Solsona. In 1106, an agreement was signed regarding the distribution of attributes between Pere Ramon de Sanaüja and his feudatary Pere Ponç, as well as between Pere Ramon de Sanaüja and the mitra of Urgell. In 1197, an agreement was documented between Elvira of Urgell and Pere de Sanaüja regarding the possession of the castle.

In the census of 1381, Sanaüja had 104 hearths. The castle remained the property of the mitra urgellenca until the desamortització of 1836. Today, the site features the remains of the original medieval castle, which was expanded in successive stages to become a castell palau or residence. These additions were constructed using large-dimension sandstone blocks laid in regular rows.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons