Rising from the slope of the mountain on the opposite side of the river is a hillock, or ridge, on which stands a little chapel to mark the spot where St. James is supposed to have dwelt during his sojourn in Iria; below the altar is a spring of delicious pure water: Morales remarked he had not tasted better water in all Galicia; its flow never ceases summer or winter. The townsfolk informed me that St. James preached to the people of Iria from this spot. Sanchez relates that in 1484 the traveller Nicolas Popiélovo came here to see the spring; and he gives his readers the traveller’s own words about his visit. A little higher up the mountain, which is called _Monte San Gregorio_, is the actual boulder upon which St. James stood when he preached. There is an opening here between two pieces of rock through which a thin person can manage to pass, and the Portuguese, who come here in great numbers, believe that good fortune will befall those who can get through, consequently it sometimes happens that fat persons also try to get through, but get stuck in the middle and find it difficult to extricate themselves. There are many legends connected with this rock, one of which is that it opened on several occasions to receive and shelter St. James when he was chased by the pagans. Another rock a little farther on is known as the Altar of St. James, and he is there supposed to have offered up bloodless sacrifices; and yet another rock is shown as St. James’s couch. The view of Padron from here is very beautiful among its fields and gardens, and with its two rivers, the Sar and the Ulla.[231] The highest building in the town is an old Carmelite nunnery, now inhabited by Dominican friars.
To the south-east of Padron, at a distance of about a mile, is situated the _Convento de San Antonio de Herbon_, a Franciscan monastery founded in the end of the fourteenth century by Gonzolo Mariño, a relative of the first Count of Altamira. Among its monks may be reckoned the famous _trovador_ poet, _Rodriquez de Padron_, who retired thither in his old age and adopted the conventual garb. When the monks were all expelled, this monastery became for a time an ecclesiastical seminary. In the church there is a beautifully carved wood statue of St. Francis of Assisi, which some think to be the work of Adolfo Cano; there is wonderful character in the face, and for that alone its celebrity would be deserved.