Beneath the altar of this church is kept the pedrón (large stone) that gives the town its name: a Roman altar dedicated to Neptune that stood on the bank of the Sar until the 15th century. In the Middle Ages it was taken to be the stone to which the boat carrying the body of the Apostle St James was moored.
On the Camino
Padrón is the end of the stage from Caldas de Reis (18.6 km, or 11.6 miles). The church stands beside the River Sar, where the old port was, about 150 m as the crow flies from the public albergue.
What to see
As well as the pedrón, it holds two inscriptions: a Roman one and another from 1133, about the rebuilding of the church begun by Bishop Gelmírez.