Padrón () is a ''concello'' ( Galician for

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

) in the

Province of A Coruña The province of A Coruña ( ; ; historical ) is the northwesternmost province of Spain, and one of the four provinces which constitute the autonomous community of Galicia. This province is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and north ...

, in Galicia (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) within the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, mark ...

of O Sar. It covers an area of , is from

A Coruña A Coruña (; ; also informally called just Coruña; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality in Galicia, Spain. It is Galicia's second largest city, behind Vigo. The city is the provincial capital of the province ...

and from

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...

. , the town had population of 8,968 according to the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE)''.'' Padrón is divided into five

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es: *(San Pedro de) Carcacía *(Santa María de) Cruces *(Santa María de) Herbón *(Santa María de) Iria Flavia (or Iría Flavia) *(Santiago de) Padrón

History and etymology

Iria Flavia was an ancient

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

settlement, the capital of the Capori tribe. It was located at the confluence of the rivers Sar and

Ulla Ulla is a given name. It is short for Ursula (given name), Ursula in German-speaking countries and Ulrika/Ulrikke in Scandinavian countries. As of 31 December 2011, there were 61,043 females named Ulla in Sweden, with the name being most popular ...

, and on the crossroads to

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

(

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

) and Astorga ( León). It became Iria Flavia under Titus Flavius Vespasianus. During the middle ages, it was the

Episcopal See An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

until

Alfonso II of Asturias Alfonso II of Kingdom of Asturias, Asturias (842), nicknamed the Chaste (), was the king of Asturias during two different periods: first in the year 783 and later from 791 until his death in 842. Upon his death, Nepotian of Asturias, Nepotian ...

moved it to Compostela after the finding of Saint James the Great's sepulchre. In modern days, the town is the last stop on The Portuguese Way route of the

Camino de Santiago The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tra ...

. When the name "Padrón" became more popular, "Iria Flavia" was consigned to a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

(the current parish). According to tradition, it was in Iria Flavia that the

Apostle An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary. The word is derived from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", itself derived from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to se ...

Saint James first preached during his stay in

Hispania Hispania was the Ancient Rome, Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula. Under the Roman Republic, Hispania was divided into two Roman province, provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior. During the Principate, Hispania Ulterior was divide ...

. Soon after his death, his disciples Theodore and Athanasius brought his head and body to Iria from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in a stone boat. They moored the boat to a ''pedrón'' ( Galician for big stone), hence the new

toponym Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...

given to the place. The two disciples remained in Iria Flavia (now Padrón) to preach after burying Saint James in Compostela. The legendary ''pedrón'' can be seen today at the parish church of Santiago de Padrón. Padrón soon became a popular passing place in the

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

route and suffered several attacks in the 10th and 11th centuries by

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

and

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

. The invasion attempts decreased after the ''Torres del Oeste'' (West Towers) were built as protection in Catoira (

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

) by Bishop Cresconio. This led to a period of prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries. During this period and under Archbishop

Diego Gelmírez Diego Gelmírez or Xelmírez (; c. 1069 – c. 1140) was the second bishop (from 1100) and first archbishop (from 1120) of the Catholic Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, modern Spain. He is a prominent figure in the history of ...

(born in the West Towers) a

quay A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

was built by the Sar river bank. From its

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

came the first galleys of the Galician

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. In the 15th century, Archbishop Rodrigo de Luna moved Santiago de Compostela's Town Council to Padrón for two years, to fend off the influence of the Counts of Altamira. His sepulcher with a reclining sculpture can be found at the Iria Flavia parish church. The focus of attention gradually moved to nearby Compostela, capital of Galicia.

Economy

The economy is based mainly on fishing and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

( peppers, kiwis and

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s are grown), and to a lesser extent on other industries (

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

, tanned hide,

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...

, due to its location at a crossroads.

Demography

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.9) ImageSize = width:580 height:300 PlotArea = left: 60 bottom: 30 top: 20 right: 20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:12000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar: 1877 text: 1877 bar: 1887 text: 1887 bar: 1900 text: 1900 bar: 1910 text: 1910 bar: 1920 text: 1920 bar: 1930 text: 1930 bar: 1940 text: 1940 bar: 1950 text: 1950 bar: 1960 text: 1960 bar: 1970 text: 1970 bar: 1980 text: 1980 bar: 1990 text: 1990 bar: 2000 text: 2000 bar: 2010 text: 2010 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar: 1877 from:9007 till: 0 bar: 1887 from:8439 till: 0 bar: 1900 from:7694 till: 0 bar: 1910 from:7732 till: 0 bar: 1920 from:7718 till: 0 bar: 1930 from:8208 till: 0 bar: 1940 from:8547 till: 0 bar: 1950 from:8820 till: 0 bar: 1960 from:8608 till: 0 bar: 1970 from:8309 till: 0 bar: 1980 from:9948 till: 0 bar: 1990 from:10019 till: 0 bar: 2000 from:8841 till: 0 bar: 2010 from:8904 till: 0 PlotData= bar: 1877 at:9007 fontsize:S text:9.007 shift:(0,5) bar: 1887 at:8439 fontsize:S text:8.439 shift:(0,5) bar: 1900 at:7694 fontsize:S text:7.694 shift:(0,5) bar: 1910 at:7732 fontsize:S text:7.732 shift:(0,5) bar: 1920 at:7718 fontsize:S text:7.718 shift:(0,5) bar: 1930 at:8208 fontsize:S text:8.208 shift:(0,5) bar: 1940 at:8547 fontsize:S text:8.547 shift:(0,5) bar: 1950 at:8820 fontsize:S text:8.820 shift:(0,5) bar: 1960 at:8608 fontsize:S text:8.608 shift:(0,5) bar: 1970 at:8309 fontsize:S text:8.309 shift:(0,5) bar: 1980 at:9948 fontsize:S text:9.948 shift:(0,5) bar: 1990 at:10019 fontsize:S text:10.019 shift:(0,5) bar: 2000 at:8841 fontsize:S text:8.841 shift:(0,5) bar: 2010 at:8904 fontsize:S text:8.904 shift:(0,5) Fro
INE Archiv
/small>

Food

The most famous produce of Padrón are its peppers (Galician '' pementos de Padrón''), which are small green peppers from the ''

Capsicum annuum ''Capsicum annuum'' is a fruiting plant from the family Solanaceae (nightshades), within the genus Capsicum which is native to the northern regions of South America and to southwestern North America. The plant produces Berry, berries of many color ...

'' family. They are served fried with

olive oil Olive oil is a vegetable oil obtained by pressing whole olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea'', a traditional Tree fruit, tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin) and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking for frying foods, as a cond ...

and coarse salt. Most taste sweet and mild, though some are particularly hot and spicy, which gives its character to the dish and is perfectly captured in the popular ''"Os pementos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non"'' ( Galician for "Padrón peppers, some are hot and some are not"). The level of heat varies according to the

capsaicin Capsaicin (8-methyl-''N''-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) (, rarely ) is an active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus ''Capsicum''. It is a potent Irritation, irritant for Mammal, mammals, including humans, and produces ...

of each pepper. Although it's not always the case, the peppers grown towards August/September tend to contain more capsaicin than the ones of June/July. In Padrón, between June and September each year, approximately of peppers are grown, mostly in the valley of the parish of Herbón. In 1979, the first ''Festa do Pemento de Padrón'' was organized in Herbón, a popular gastronomic event that is now held every year on the first Sunday in August. The ''festa'' takes place in the ''carballeira'' of Herbón's

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friary, since it was the Franciscan friars that brought the first pepper seeds from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the 16th century. The peppers were then adapted to the soil and

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

of the Herbón valley, and grown with using special techniques.

Notable people

Padrón has been home to four important writers: * Macias the Lover (1340-1370),

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

poet, * Juan Rodríguez de la Cámara (1390-1450), also known as Juan Rodríguez de Padrón,

writer, poet. * Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885), Romantic poet and pioneer of feminism. * Camilo José Cela (1916–2002), writer and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner.

References

External links

Rosalía de Castro Museum and Foundation, in PadrónCamilo José Cela Foundation, in Padrón
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padron Municipalities in the Province of A Coruña