The pass is named for the sanctuary of Sant Grau d'Ardenya at its summit, whose relics of the saint were carried there, by local tradition, by Maria de Montpeller, mother of Jaume I, around the year 1200. The sanctuary was restored in 1462 when the farmhouse beside it was built, was abandoned during the Peninsular War, and was reconstructed in neo-Romanesque style in 1882 by its owner Grau Rodés Moré, with the doorway designed by Joan Guàrdia. In modern times it ended up enclosed by a private urbanisation, and a hotel put up next to it has since closed. Tossa de Mar bought the site in 2009, the lower floor has run as a bar and restaurant since 2013, and the town still holds its annual gathering there on 13 October.