Saint Mammes

San Mamés – Mamés of Cappadocia

Mamés of Cappadocia (Caesarea in Cappadocia, Asia Minor, 259 – ibid., 275), martyr saint.

Biography of San Mamés

According to legend, Mamés («the one who was breastfed«) was born into a modest family. Some historians date his birth to 259 and his martyrdom to 275.

The son of Theodotus and Rufina, Mamés was born in prison while his parents were imprisoned for being Christians. Shortly after his birth, both his father and mother were martyred and later raised to the altars as saints. From then on, Mamés was raised by a wealthy widow named Ammia, also a saint, who died when Mamés was fifteen, leaving the young man heir to her estate.

The governor of Caesarea in Cappadocia (Asia Minor, present-day Turkey) subjected Mamés to torture, without succeeding in making him renounce his faith. He was then sent to the Emperor Aurelian, who ordered him tortured again. Legend has it that an angel freed him and told him to take refuge on a mountain near Caesarea. Mamés managed to tame the lions to which he had been thrown in the circus, and faced with this wonder, they decided to end his life by driving a trident into his abdomen. Though bleeding, the young Mamés managed to reach the cave near the theatre, where he died and was welcomed into heaven by the angels.

There are also versions in which Mamés was thrown to the lions and devoured. The statue of this child martyr, leaning against a small lion, is still preserved in the Santa y Real Casa de Misericordia de Bilbao, formerly the convent of San Mamés and later one of the largest orphanages in Europe. It has now been converted into a retirement home and stands next to the Athletic Club stadium, nicknamed La Catedral, whose players are popularly known by their fans as «the lions».

He is traditionally regarded as the protector of people with broken bones and of infants. In the town of Murero (Zaragoza) he is considered the advocate of those who suffer from hernias, and in the parish of Torroso (Mos, Pontevedra) he is regarded as a healer of stomach ailments.

San Mames Camino de Santiago Frances
San Mamés

Feast Day of San Mamés

The feast day of San Mamés is celebrated in Spain on 17 August.

Sanctuaries of San Mamés

The first centre of worship dedicated to San Mamés was built in Caesarea in Cappadocia. The main centre of worship in Europe is the cathedral of Langres (Haute-Marne, France), whose patron is Saint-Mammès. One of the main sanctuaries dedicated to San Mamés on the Camino de Santiago is found in the Ribadesella town of Cuerres and dates from the 14th century. Likewise, along the Camino Frances, a hermitage outside the walls of the city of León dedicated to this saint has been documented since the 6th century; it gave its name to the road that would in turn give its name to the San Mamés district, the most populous in the city. In the 10th century he was venerated among the Christians of al-Andalus. The saint’s head is preserved in the parish church of Santa María Magdalena in Zaragoza. The largest hermitage in Spain is located in the town of Murero (Zaragoza), where San Mamés is venerated by the townspeople with a historic procession that sets out every year on 17 August at 10:00 am (a centuries-old tradition that continues to this day).

Spanish towns with San Mamés as patron saint

San Mamés

Birth259, Caesarea in Cappadocia
Death275, Caesarea in Cappadocia
ReligionChristianity 
CanonisationSaint 
Feast day17 August
Venerated inCatholic Church

See also:

Valdelafuente Camino de Santiago Frances

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