WAY OF SAINT JAMES - PORTUGUESE CENTRAL WAY

São Pedro de Rates has been located on the axis of important road networks since Roman times and, given its importance in the Middle Ages, it was only natural that it should become a transit point for believers who were then starting to make their way to Santiago de Compostela.One of the most distinguished pilgrims was the king, D. Manuel I, in 1502, and Prince Cosmo de Medici in 1669. Pier Maria Baldi, an artist accompanying the Prince, has left us the oldest record of what Rates was like.The first refuge for pilgrims in Portugal was opened on 25 July 2004, the feast day of St James. 


Location: Póvoa de Varzim