The tents and stalls of the market spread out and through the city centre ,alongside the Rio Sar and surrounding the statue of Rosalia de Castro(1837-1885), a famous poetess,also celebrated by a museum in the town.
Historic buildings catch your eye-the Convento do Carmen standing sentry over the river on a rocky outcrop and the church of St James attract pilgrims' interest. The church known as Igrexa de Santiago houses the famous rock, O'Pedron which is said to be the mooring stone for the boat carrying the remains of St James on his return to Spain for burial-the story of which is depicted on a mural on the Fonte do Carme just across the river. The church was closed during our visit but a number of treasures related to St James and his life are housed there. St James is well known for his life here, preaching the gospel to the gallicians and vanquishing the Moors during deadly encounters with the enemy in Spain before his death in Palestine at the hand of the Roman Emperor.
Padron was part of the early seat of the bishops of Gallicia known as Iria Flavia before it was shifted to Santiago de Compestela so it is a place of great significance to peregrinos on the pilgrimage.
We were lucky to arrive in sunshine and we enjoyed exploring the market. We watched the cooking of octopus and paella with interest but as yet we were not quite ready to sample the boiled octopus; red, with tentacles still attached. They sliced the carcass into sections,laid them on a wooden platter,dunked them in oil and covered the whole dish with spices with toothpicks to eat it with. Next time maybe!
We bought some strawberries and sat in the sun under magnificent plane trees bordering the river enjoying the freedom of sandals and nothing to carry. People watching is a pleasant experience in such places.
Later that evening we went to a bar recommended for the padron peppers dish famous in the region-Pemento de Padron. One in thirty peppers is said to be chilli hot but we did not strike one in our meal,delicious as it was and served with a tortilla and a slice of Santiago Tart- we had a local taste treat to complete the day's adventures.
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