According to tradition, an image of the
Virgin Mary was brought to Guimarães by the apostle St. James (São Tiago in Portuguese) and placed in a pagan temple in a square that came to be called St. Tiago Square. The Santiago Square is mentioned over various centuries in multiple documents, and it still retains many of its medieval features. In the 19th century, there were projects to improve this square and the alleys attached to it, which was described as a place where every corner is a source of infection. Such projects were repeated throughout the 20th century, and in May 1904, the City Council approved a project to extend the Santiago Square, expropriating three buildings, the back of which formed an “infected alleyway, impossible to make habitable”. ==References==