Calle San Telmo

Behind the name lies a preaching friar and a great deal of sea. Pedro González was born around 1190 in Frómista, in the province of Palencia, far from any coast. He was a canon until he joined the Order of Preachers and spent the rest of his life along the Portuguese coast, preaching among fishermen who risked their lives with every outing. From this sprang the tales of miracles that made him the protector of those who work the water. He died in Tuy in 1246. The nickname “Telmo” was not his own: popular devotion confused him with Saint Erasmus of Formia, another patron of seafarers whose name, distorted into “Sant' Elmo,” became attached to him. He is also credited with that electric glow that sometimes crowns masts during a storm, Saint Elmo’s fire. That is why many images show him with a lit blue candle or a tiny ship in his hand.