The ashes of one of Orense’s first martyrs, Santa Eufemia, are preserved in this Cathedral. Santa Eufemia, according to historical accounts, suffered martyrdom near the walls of an ancient city called Obobriga (which some writers have tried to identify with Tuy) about the middle of the second century of the Christian Era, in the reign of Antoninus Pius.[274] Tradition relates that a young shepherdess, guarding her sheep upon a mountain slope on the confines of Portugal and Galicia, saw one day a hand stretched out from between [Illustration: STONE REREDOS IN THE CAPILLA DE LOS CONDES, MONTERREZ] [Illustration: THE PUENTE MAYOR--ONE OF THE WONDERS OF ORENSE] the boulders, and on one of its fingers was a golden ring. The girl put out her hand and took the ring. From that moment her power of speech was gone and she was perfectly dumb. She returned in terror to her home, and by signs explained to her father what had taken place. Her father took the ring from her, and, hastening to the spot where the hand had appeared, found it still there and replaced the ring. As he did so a voice said to him, “Here is the body of Santa Eufemia. See that it is removed and placed with honour in the Church of Santa Marina.” The command was carried out, and from the year 1090 till the time of Bishop Sequin (1164) the ashes of the saint rested in the little chapel on the Portuguese border. It was only with great difficulty that the bishop was able to translate them to the Cathedral of Orense. The coffin was placed upon a cart, but just as it was about to proceed to Orense the Portuguese of the neighbouring villages came in great crowds, and threatened to use force if the body was not carried back to their own Cathedral at Braga. Bishop Sequin and the Bishop of Braga were friends, having both been educated at the monastery of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, and they did their best to bring the dispute to an amicable end, but the feelings of the Portuguese were so violent that the only resource open to the bishops was to harness a couple of untamed oxen to the cart and let the animals decide for themselves whether the saint should be carried to Orense or to Braga. The oxen at once started off in the direction of Orense, followed by a large concourse of the clergy, who chanted psalms and prayed at every halt upon the road. When the procession had reached Sejalvo, just outside Orense, the oxen stood still and refused to move another step, whereupon the priests, followed by all the dignitaries and aristocracy of the town, carried the coffin upon their shoulders to the Cathedral, where it was deposited to the sound of solemn music. At the spot where the oxen stopped, Bishop Sequin erected a small chapel--right in the middle of the road--and placed beside it a stone cross with the effigy of Santa Eufemia, which was still standing in the eighteenth century. The pedestal of the cross and the inscription dating from the twelfth century are still there.