The name reminds the abundance of wheat ("grano" in Italian) produced by this fertile land.

Granarolo dell'Emilia started out as an agricultural borough at the gates of Bologna and was for centuries the real granary of the city. The long-lasting traces of the Roman "centuriazione" (land-division system) are still today the most evident proof of the agricultural vocation of the territory, inhabited since time immemorial due to its position between the territory of Ferrara and the port of Spina.

Tradition recounts that one of the area's most important historical families had its origins here: the Bentivoglio family, Lords of Bologna in the 15th and 16th centuries. The founder of the noble family is said to have been born in Viadagola on the 4th May 1252, to a beautiful local peasant-girl and King Enzo of Svevia, a prisoner of the Bolognese.

In Granarolo, it is worth visiting the Church of San Vitale, rebuilt in 1682, containing a portrait of San Girolamo attributed to the Guercino. Near the church, there is the countryside residence (recently rebuild) of the explorer from Ravenna Pellegrino Matteucci, the first man to cross the African continent from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea.

Also in Granarolo, there is Villa Bassi, also called Villa del Marchesino, which now hosts events.

In the surrounding countryside, over the 18th century numerous villas sprung up, some of notable architectural interest. Particular examples are Villa Amelia in Fibbia, with rooms decorated in tempera from the 17th century and noted for its "conserva" (pantry), and Villa Mareschi, in Lovoleto, with its highly particular double row of centuriesold oaks, about 1 kilometre long, lining the main avenue to the villa.

The present buildings of the five parish churches, one for each of the Town Council's hamlets, date back to the 18th-19th centuries. Perhaps the most notable for its style and frescoes is the Church of San Mamante in Lovoleto. Quite apart from the churches, this territory is characterized by its traditional country oratories. The most important are in Granarolo, Lovoleto and Cadriano.