Iria was, without doubt, one of the most flourishing and important of the towns which existed before the days of Christianity in the territory which we now call Galicia. One of Spain’s most noted archæologists--Fita--thought that the so-called _castro de la Rocha_, or rock fortress, where St. James is supposed to have resided, was in the old capitol of Iria, and therefore the most suitable spot for the commencement of excavations. Villa-Amil points out that the tradition of St. James’s having preached from the _Rocha de Padron_ is a very old one. Castella Ferrar thought that the original cathedral of Iria had stood within this _castro_, and believed that he had discovered some of the ruins of its eastern wall; and others have thought that this was the site of the episcopal palaces of the diocese. There are numerous references to _la Rocha Blanca del Padron_ in historical documents of the Middle Ages. All that remains of it to-day is a trench eight or nine yards long enclosing a circle of about fifty yards in diameter, most of which is now planted with potatoes and other garden produce. We have seen in a preceding chapter how popular is the belief that the boat which brought the body of St. James from Joppa to Spain landed it at Padron. To this event is attributed the fact that one of the first bishoprics in Galicia was founded at Iria. The arms of Padron are a boat, with the body of the Apostle, and two disciples, one at the prow and the other at the stern. It takes about an hour to go by train from Santiago to Padron, but we preferred to drive, as the road is excellent and the scenery delightful. It was the last week in March, and many of the trees were still in bud, but the furze (_ulex europæus_), which covered great stretches of the undulating country through which we passed, was a mass of brilliant yellow blossom; there were as yet no leaves upon the oak trees, but they did not look bare, for ivy covered their stems, and ferns luxuriated among their gnarled branches, while fresh green fronds spread out in all directions, with as much grace as if they had been specially arranged by the hand of an artist; even the tallest trees were decorated in this way, and the crannies in which the ferns nestled were often eight or ten yards above the ground.