Templar knights

The Templar Order, founded in 1129 by Hugues de Payens in the Council of Troyes, was a military and religious order aimed at protecting the pilgrims that travelled to the Holy Land. The knights stuck to the ascetic principles of Saint Bernard. They obtained much power and wealth at the time of their existence due to their activities as bankers that guarded and managed the pilgrims` and royalty`s money, and also received donations and possessed fortresses in Europe. At the climax of their history, the order numbered more than 30 thousand Knights.

In 1291 Templars definitively lost the Holy Land; in 1301 Jacques de Molay, the last Master, was interviewed by Ramon Llull, and in 1307 the Knights Templar were detained in France; de Molay was convicted and sentenced to death in the bonfire in 1314 alongside other Knights.

In Catalonia Templars settled in the area of Regomir Castell in 1134 and engaged in banking, trade and industry. As the order disappeared after the death of its leaders and its official dissolution by the Bull of Pope Clement V (Vox Clamantis), its properties became part of Palau Reial minor in Barcelona; this palace had been torn down and practically disappeared, with the exception of the chapel of the Palau, which still exists today, and which we can visit at the corner of Templers street with Palau Ataülf street, in the old part of Barcelona.
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Image: View of Palau Reial Major in Barcelona, near Palau Reial Menor, some decades ago (Barcelona)

Image: Chapel of Palau Reial Menor in Barcelona, a complete Templar vestige of Barcelona, located in Ataülf Street

On the other hand, the vestiges that the order has left in Barcelona are varied, such as the construction of the Cathedral of Barcelona, and besides Barcelona, its fortifications spread out in following areas of Catalonia: Tortosa, Miravet, Gardeny, Montsó, Puig-Reig, Masdeu, Girona, Palau-Solità.