Travesía de San Telmo
Named for Saint Telmo, the nickname of the Dominican friar Pedro González, a thirteenth-century Castilian preacher venerated as the patron of sailors.
Behind this name lies a Castilian friar of the thirteenth century. Pedro González was born in Frómista, in the lands of Palencia, around 1190 and died in Tuy in 1246. He gave up a comfortable position in the church of Palencia to join the Order of Preachers, served as chaplain to King Ferdinand III of Castile, and then travelled through Asturias, Galicia and northern Portugal preaching among the people of the sea.
The nickname “Telmo” was not his in life. It came from the popular confusion with Saint Erasmus of Formia, another saint of sailors known as Sant’Elmo, whose name ended up sticking to the Dominican. Sailors adopted him as their protector and credited him with aid in the perils of the sea. His name also became attached to the bluish glow that appears on masts and yards during electrical storms, the so-called Saint Elmo’s fire, which crews read as a sign of protection.
The Travesía de San Telmo is a short street in the Nueva España neighbourhood, a few steps from the street it takes its name from, a residential corner far from the sea the friar evokes.