Ruta de Don Quixote - Ruta de Don Quijote

Windmills and the literally pointless struggle against them are the main motifs in the story of the "Knight of the Sad Figure". Here the Molino Burleta in winter.
Statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in front of the 1930 Cervantes monument in Madrid.

The Ruta de Don Quixote, in German, for example: "In the footsteps of Don Quixote," connects different places that are mentioned in Miguel Cervantes' novel about the "knight of the sad figure".

Background: Don Quixote and its author

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) published the two-volume novel in 1605-15 El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Its hero Don Quixote sees himself as a "noble knight" modeled on the medieval courtly knight novelBut he's a megalomaniac who fights windmills and turns a barber's sink into a helmet that he believes will make it invincible. The spellings "Quixote" and German "Quichote" are common. At least his squire Sancho Panza and the Klepper Rosinante are world-famous. The action takes place mainly in the historical region of Campo de Montiel, today mostly in the province Ciudad Real, the rest of La Mancha and the final chapters in and around Barcelona as well Zaragoza (Zaragoza).

Since "Cervantism" became fashionable in the 1780s, Cervantes has been considered the Spanish national poet. Analogous to the German Goethe-Institut, the Spanish cultural institutes, Instituto Cervantes named after him.

The route

Few places are named in the novel. Around 1780, José Romagosa and Tomás López were the first to try to identify the locations in the basic work. The writer Azorín designed for the magazine El Imparcial 1905 a stretch of road. This was followed in 1997 by the Asociación de Amigos del Campo de Montiel. The European cultural route of 2005/7, marked on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the publication of the first volume, has ten sections, divided into 56 sections. It is the Ruta in other words, not a linear path, but a network over 2000 km in length. A description, unfortunately only in Spanish, is available on the website of the Tourist information for the La Mancha region.

The designated route includes the following places in La Mancha:Albacete, Alcaraz, Alcazar de San Juan, Almagro, Argamasilla de Alba, Belmonte, Bolaños de Calatrava, Calzada de Calatrava, Ciudad Real, Consuegra, Campo de Criptana, Daimiel, El Toboso, Esquivias, Los Yébenes, Manzanares, Mota del Cuervo, Orgaz, Ossa de Montiel, Puerto Lápice, Puebla del Principe, Ruidera, San Clemente, Sigüenza, Tembleque, Tomelloso, Toledo, Torralba de Calatrava, Valdepeñas, Villahermosa, Villanueva de los Infantes, Villarrobledo, Villarrubia de los Ojos, Villanueva de la Fuente, Villarta de San Juan.

Sections

Marking a hiking trail of the Ruta de Don Quixote at Ciudad Real.

There are ten sections with comparatively long stages, some of which are branching or circular routes. Anyone who has marched all the distances has covered 2386 km. Details can be found at the local tourist information office.

Toledo to San Clemente via El Toboso

1. Toledo → Mora (44 km), 2. Mora → Villacañas (68 km), 3. Villacañas → La Guardia (51 km), 4. La Guardia → Mascaraque (45 km), 5. Villacañas → C. de Criptana (50 km), 6. Laguna de Peña Hueca → El Toboso (58 km), 7. Quintanar de la Orden → Belmonte (48 km), 8. Belmonte → Belmonte (50 km), 9. Belmonte → Carrascosa de Haro (46 km), 10. Carrascosa de Haro → San Clemente (41 km).

San Clemente to Villanueva de los Infantes

1. San Clemente → Socuéllamos (55 km), 2. Socuéllamos → El Toboso (37 km), 3. Pedro Muñoz → El Pedernoso (41 km), 4. Las Mesas → San Clemente (36 km), 5. Villarrobledo → Ossa de Montiel (46 km), 6. Ossa de Montiel → Villanueva de los Infantes (52.2 km).

Villanueva to Almagro

1. Villanueva de los Infantes → Castellar de Santiago (54.2 km), 2. Castellar de Santiago → Almuradiel (47.3 km), 3. Torrenueva → Valdepeñas (51.3 km), 4. Valdepeñas → Manzanares (46.5 km), 5. Manzanares → Almagro (39 km).

From the Valle de Alcudia to the Campo de Calatrava

1. Puertollano → Los Pozuelos de Calatrava (42.8 km), 2. Los Pozuelos de Calatrava → Poblete (24.7 km), 3. Puertollano → Los Pozuelos de Calatrava (38 km), 4. Puerto de Valderepisa → Puertollano (53.2 km), 5. Fuencaliente → Minas del Horcajo (35 km), 6. Minas del Horcajo → Sierra del Torozo (35 km), 7. Puertollano → Villanueva de San Carlos (32 km), 8. Villanueva de San Carlos → Valenzuela de Calatrava (46 km).

Albacete to Alcaraz y Bienservida

1. Albacete → Casas de Lázaro (50.5 km), 2. Casas de Lázaro → Alcaraz (68 km), 3. Alcaraz → Salobre (36 km), 4. Salobre → Bienservida (24.5 km).

La Roda in the Campo de Montiel

The Campo de Montiel was a historical region that existed until 1783, which today is largely in the Ciudad Real Province lies.

1. La Roda → Munera (42.3 km), 2. San Clemente → Munera (58 km), 3. Munera → El Bonillo (25 km), 4. Lezuza → El Ballestero (28 km), 5. El Ballestero → Laguna Blanca (54 km), 6. El Ballestero → Alcaraz (29 km), 7. Alcaraz → Albadalejo (53 km), 8. Albadalejo → Villamanrique (45 km).

From Campo de Criptana in Tomelloso to Argamasilla de Alba
According to legend, Cervantes began writing Don Quixote in the Argamasilla de Alba cave prison.

1. Campo de Criptana → Argamasilla de Alba (42 km), 2. Argamasilla de Alba → Ruidera (47 km), 3. Argamasilla de Alba → La Solana (40 km).

Almagro to Toledo via Ciudad Real

1. Almagro → Ciudad Real (44.1 km), 2. Ciudad Real → Daimiel (44.2 km), 3. Ciudad Real → Malagón (34.1 km), 4. Malagón → Consuegra (55 km), 5 . Malagón → Consuegra (40 km), 6. Consuegra → Villarta de San Juan (55.3 km), 7. Puerto Lápice → Fuente el Fresno (35.9 km), 8. Consuegra → Mascaraque (55 km).

Esquivias to Carranque

Esquivias → Carranque (28 km).

From Río Dulce to Atienza via Sigüenza

1. La Fuensaviñán → Sigüenza (16.7 km), 2. Sigüenza → Valdelcubo (24.5 km), 3. Sigüenza → Atienza (46.6 km).

climate

Climate diagram Toledo.

Hikers should bear in mind that it can get very hot in the largely treeless region in high summer in Spain. Frost and some snow are not uncommon between New Years and February. The conditions are pleasant from mid-March to the beginning of June and then again from October to the end of November.

literature

Map from 1780 of a route designed by Tomás López (1730-1802) inspired by the work.
  • Azorín [1873-1967]; Castilla: La ruta de Don Quixote; 1905 (bad scan), reprint 1984; German as: In the footsteps of Don Quixote; Zurich 1923
  • Cañizares Ruiz, María del Carmen; La "Ruta de Don Quixote" en Castilla-La Mancha (España) nuevo itinerario cultural europeo; Nimbus: Revista de climatología, meteorología y paisaje, Nº 21-22 (2008), Pp. 55-75
  • Villaverde Gil, Alfredo; Viaje por La Mancha de Don Quixote y Sancho; Guadalajara 2020; ISBN 8495179857 ; [Hiking guide, span.]

Don Quixote

  • Bibliography until 1970: Drake, Dana B .; Don Quixote, 1894-1970: a selective annotated bibliography; New York 1980, 3 volumes
  • Reprint of the original La primera edicion del ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha; Barcelona 1871-2, digitized Volume 1 (1605) and Volume 2 (1615)
  • Scanned book editions in Spanish
  • Early German translations:
    • Don Kichote de la Mantzscha, That is: Juncker Harnisch from Fleckenland. Translated into high German outside of Hispanic language, First part: The adventurous story of the sharp-witted feudal and knight race; Frankfurt 1648; Digitized from a reprint from 1928
    • The Spanish daredevil: or that of the knight Don Quixott, enchanted by love, completely new debauchery; Nuremberg 1696 Digitized

Web links

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