In the fifteenth century, the founders of the Dominican Order of Preachers built Sant Jaume de Pallars monastery right across from where Tremp’s walls used to be, and separated from them by the Font Vella ravine. To span this distance, a stone bridge was built, and therefore the city's layout changed given that it fostered growth on the monastery side. 

Opened in 1496, the monastery was built off the southern side of the church. Sickly people in the village were often fed there, and the friars were in charge of instructing and serving teachers and disciples. But in 1835, because of the upheaval and the burning of the convents and monasteries around Catalonia, it had to be vacated. Sometime after it was abandoned, Sant Jaume monastery was torn down. In 1837, its rubble started to be used to rebuild the city wall and fix streets and paths. After having different owners, that landscape in ruins was once again put into service. Father Manyanet bought the lands with the intention of equipping the county with another school. However, the project never came to fruition and the land was sold to Ramon Aytés. 

When this new owner died in 1902, his widow, Teresa Mir, transferred it to the executors1 of Francesc Llinàs. Francesc Llinàs was a Tremp native who was determined to create a shelter for people without resources. This project never came to fruition during Llinàs’ lifetime, but it was stipulated in his will. Thus, in 1903, Àngel Sala and Josep Riu -his executors- built the Poor House on the lands given by Teresa Mir. 

Àngel Sala submitted a proposal to the City Council to give the building to the city, and the transfer of the house and its lands was formalised in 1921. It continued to operate as a Poor House after the City Council owned it. Finally, in 1940 the operating rules of the Poor House were regulated so that any passer-by without resources could take shelter there. At that time, this facility was also used as a county jail and a holding centre for people who had been arrested, who were later transferred to the prison in Lleida. The Sorando family was in charge of managing this penitentiary. We could say that it was a ‘prison family’ because sometimes they treated the prisoners like family. According to the rules, they had to prepare special meals (sandwiches) for the prisoners. 

But Mrs Sorando often made more of the family’s food, and her son (Carles Sorando Vidal) would take them a plate. This family was also in charge of managing the Poor House, but the village chaplain decided how long each needy person could stay there. He issued a voucher stating that they could eat and sleep there for one, two or three days. At that time the building was known as La Casa del Rotllet. 
There were no changes until 1970, when the building we refurbished to serve as a municipal hostel. In the late 1980s, after the municipal hostel and the prison were closed, the Pallars Jussà Workshop School was moved there. Thanks to this initiative, the building was restored so it could be used for teaching purposes. In 1999, just a few years after it closed, a remodelling project was approved to turn it into a facility associated with the Natural Sciences Museum, while it was also used as a shelter for geologists who came to research, study and work in El Pallars. 

However, once construction was completed in 2005, the City Council turned it into the Pallars León Sorando Youth Hostel. 

1. An executor is a person appointed by the deceased person to ensure that their last will is fulfilled and executed.

In 2006, the hostel hosed the first edition of Miss and Mister Catalonia.

Its officially opening was on 18 May 2005, and it actually opened its doors around Easter Week. One fun fact related to its official opening was that the doors to the rooms had not yet been installed.

Arquitectura

The hostel has two buildings: the central one, the renovated former Poor House, which has a square layout and two floors, and the auxiliary building constructed between 1999 and 2005, with a rectangular layout and two storeys, which houses the services and more rooms. The municipal brigade of Tremp is in charge of the building, and the City Hall named the hostel after the patriarch of the Sorando family.