The Benedictine monastery of San Pedro de Rodes is located in the municipality of Puerto de la Selva. Built on the slopes of the Verdera mountain below the ruins of the castle of San Salvador de Verdera that had given it protection, with an exceptional view over the bay of Llansá and Puerto de la Selva, north of Cabo de Creus.

Near the monastery are the ruins of the medieval town of Santa Cruz de Roda, of which only its pre-Romanesque style church dedicated to Saint Helena remains.

It was restored as a result of the publication of the book that presented the finding and analysis of a small briefcase containing relics identifiable as those of Saint Peter the Apostle that in 610 were removed by sea from the city of Rome where they had been venerated in the underground crypt ( the Confession under the altar) of the Old Basilica of Saint Peter. They never returned there.

Inside a "briefcase" decorated with sheets of bone, and wrapped with an apron tailored to the pontiff Gregorio Magno were tiny reliquaries. It also included in its interior a portable altar (with inscriptions) destined to celebrate Mass for the religious custodians during their sea voyage, when Rome was seriously threatened by an eastern invasion.

The lot of reliquaries (without lid) was accidentally recovered just twelve centuries after its concealment in the wall of the underground crypt under the main altar of San Pedro de Roda. Archaeological excavations after 1990 gave very good results, even promoting the restoration of the entire abbey complex, and especially the church.

Until these relics were discovered, it was impossible to justify the vast dimensions of the church and the monastery, being a very isolated sector on the coast of the Gulf of Roses, but later several treasures were found there: gold and silver coins, old ceramic tiles , and even Romanesque paintings on the walls of a lower cloister, unknown until the middle of the 20th century.

The true origin of the monastery is unknown, which in the past gave rise to speculation and legends, such as that of the foundation by monks who landed in the area with the remains of Saint Peter and other saints, which they had to guard so as not to be desecrated by the barbarian hordes that fell on Rome. After the danger, Pope Boniface IV would have had the temple built.

However, the first documentation of the existence of the establishment dates from the year 878, being mentioned as a simple monastic cell consecrated to Saint Peter, but it was not until the year 945 that it was considered an independent Benedictine monastery, ruled by an abbot.

Linked to the county of Ampurias, it reached its maximum splendor between the 11th and 12th centuries. Jubilees are celebrated in it until its decline in the seventeenth century. Its growing importance leads it to become a pilgrimage point of the time.

From the seventeenth century it is looted on several occasions and in 1793 it was abandoned by the Benedictine community that moved to Via-sacra and, finally, settled in Figueras in 1809 until it was dissolved.

In 1930 it was declared a national monument and in 1935 the Generalitat of Catalonia began the first restorations.

In the excavations carried out during 1990 and 1991, remains of the 11th century cloister, paintings prior to the 12th century and the necropolis of the 10th and 11th centuries, among other remains, appeared.