In the Path of Don Quixote
In the Path of Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes
Was Don Quixote even half the man his creator was? Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) was born outside of Madrid. When young, he developed a love of books and eventually swore off a university education. His first poem was published at the age of 21, the same year he was forced to flee the country for Italy following assault accusations. His life, as an itinerant adventurer, had begun. In Naples he enlisted as a soldier with the Spanish infantry. Relations between the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish-Italian confederacy had reached a breaking point, and Cervantes found himself in the midst of a significant naval battle a year after his enlistment. Stricken with fever, he reportedly refused to lie below decks during the battle and emerged as a valiant fighter, receiving two gunshot wounds to the chest and another to his left hand that would render it useless for the rest of his life. The Ottoman Turks had lost their hold over the Mediterranean. Cervantes’ life as a distinguished soldier would play out over the next few years until his planned return to Spain.
More on In the Path of Don Quixote below:
Cervantes’ Return to Spain
Cervantes’ Return to Spain
En route to his homeland with letters of recommendation from King Don Juan de Austria, Cervantes’ ship was attacked by Barbary corsairs; all aboard, including the future author and his brother, were captured and sold into slavery in Algeria. The letters sustained Cervantes’ life as a captive and endeared him to his captors. He was apparently a stoic leader among his fellow captives and, despite at least four failed escape attempts, managed to avoid the severe punishment, torture or death that would have befallen most slaves for such an act. He remained in captivity for five years, until his family was able to earn his release in 1580.
Cervantes’ return to Spain would lead to 25 years of poverty, with odd jobs here and there and little to show for it all. The life of Cervantes the adventurer had come to an end. But the legend of Cervantes the writer would soon be assured in 1605, when El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha was published to rave reviews.
Castilla-La Mancha and Don Quixote
Castilla-La Mancha and Don Quixote
Castilla-La Mancha bears the stamp of its beloved author on storefronts, mesones, inns and street signs. In almost every town with even a remote connection to the epic adventurer Don Quixote, you will find a statue or plaque (or likely both) paying homage to the work and attracting tourists that pay to experience a little bit of it. The windmills of the Manchas, or plains, are scattered in isolated clusters or singularly atop hills. They were introduced into Spain from the Low Countries in the late 16th century, a short time before Cervantes would pen his famous story and create one of its most popular scenes out of them. Mistaking the bright white windmills as giants, Quixote rode atop his horse Rocinante to attack them with all the bravery and ill consideration only a truly heroic dunce could muster. “The wind turned it with such violence that it shivered his weapon in pieces, dragging the horse and his rider with it, and sent the knight rolling badly injured across the plain.” Man, machine and the land had thus been properly introduced and the status of each assured. The windmills that survive to this day ceased their functions at the turn of the 20th century.
The Path of Don Quixote: Driving Itinerary
The Path of Don Quixote: Driving Itinerary
Begin in the town of Consuegra in the southern Toledan Mancha. The yellowed Mount Calderico outside of town is topped by a row of windmills that meet a ruined castle at one end. The windmills have posthumously been awarded names such as the 'Vixen', the 'Turkish Woman' and 'Sancho Panza', that blubbering, weighty companion of Don Quixote.
From Consuegra, head east to Madridejos and pick up the N-IV south to Puerto Lápice. This town is notable for its typical inns, each emblazoned with a name referencing Cervantes’ masterpiece. One particular inn, the Venta de Don Quixote, is believed to have been the haunt of the fictitious knight. Continue south on the N-IV and at Villarta de San Juan turn southeast in the direction of Argamasilla de Alba. Cervantes, never a stranger to trouble, found himself imprisoned here after an unsubstantiated murder charge. It is said, among the conspirators of the Spanish tourism board, that the author penned the first pages of Don Quixote while here in captivity.
Campo de Criptana is the next destination and best reached by heading northeast to Tomelloso, then north in the direction of Alcazar de San Juan before turning east roughly 15 km (nine miles) later. Campo de Criptana preserves those windmills that Quixote mistook for giants. They poke out of the Sierra de la Paz, 10 of the original 32 still standing. The oldest, the Infante, dates to 1500. To see even more windmills, head east on the N-420 to Mota del Cuevo, which boasts seven.
The final destination is El Toboso, and a far-fetched one at that. It is the literary home and “birthplace” of Dulcinea, that unattainable femme that pervades Don Quixote’s adventures but never physically approaches them. The Casa de Dulcinea, a restored 16th-century farmhouse with a collection of clothes and tools of the day, was the residence of Doña Ana Martínez Zarco de Morales, herself identified with Dulcinea in El Quixote’s admirable quest for a new individualism apart from the oppressive 16th-century Spanish society.