Imogen Calderwood
FORENSIC experts are entering the final stage in the search for the final resting place of author Miguel de Cervantes.
The scientists are currently excavating three unidentified graves in a chapel in Madrid, where the author of Don Quixote was buried in 1616.
It is known that Cervantes was buried at the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in the city’s historic Literary Quarter, but the exact location of his grave is still a mystery.
“Were we to find remains that fulfill the characteristics we are looking for, we could possibly pass to the next stage,” said Francisco Etxeberria, a forensic specialist from the University of the Basque Country.
“That would be to compare DNA similarities with his sister, but that is a very complex step.”
A team of more than 20 forensic experts have begun extracting bones and remains from the graves, in the latest stage in the 10-month search.
Two of the graves are located in the crypt, and the third is underneath the terracotta floor of the chapel.
This phase of the excavation, costing €50,000, is expected to last two weeks.
