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Home , Miguel de Cervantes

MIGUEL DE CERVANTES

Miguel de Cervantes was born in Alcalá de Henares () in 1547. He was baptised at the now lost Church of Santa María la free admission Mayor on 9 October that same year, as accessible museum confirmed by his baptism certificate. T. 918 89 96 54 www.museocasanataldecervantes.org Little is known about Cervantes’s childhood and adolescence. The son of Rodrigo de Cervantes, an apothecary surgeon, and Le- opening hours onor de Cortinas, he travelled throughout Tuesday to Sunday: From 10 am to 6 pm (last tour starts at 5.30 pm). his life around and sought his fortune Closed on Mondays, 1 and 6 January, 1 May, 24, 25 and 31 December. in Rome, where he worked as a manservant 2 Opening hours may change due to special activities taking place. to Cardinal Acquaviva. In 1571, together with his brother Rodrigo, he took part in the Bat- At the age of 37 he met the great love tle of Lepanto and was seriously wounded of his life, Ana Franca de Rojas, with whom informations and bookings in the chest and arm. his only daughter, Isabel de Saavedra, was [email protected] conceived. However, despite the love they professed for each other, Cervantes ended group visits up marrying Catalina de Palacios Salazar, Group visits must be booked in advance by email: [email protected]. who was from Esquivias. Success came towards the end of Each group may have a maximum of 20 people and must be Cervantes’s life, in 1605, with the publica- accompanied by a group leader. tion in Madrid of the first part of his im- mortal work The ingenious gentleman don how to get the museum Quixote of la Mancha. At the time he was Train: Renfe. Lines: C-1, C-2 and C7a. Bus: Line L223 Line (departs from the station on Avda. de América). living in , but he soon moved to Madrid (1606), to the district now known as parking the Barrio de las Letras or Literary Quarter. Pico del Obispo (Calle Cardenal Sandoval y Rojas. Puerta de Madrid entrance). His neighbours were among the great lite- 1 rary figures of the , such Photographs and video are allowed with mobile devices (no flash or tripods) as , for personal use only. While returning to Spain by sea (1575), and Luis de Góngora. Some of Cervantes’s he was captured by pirates and taken to finest literary works flowed from his pen a prison in , where he remained for while he lived in this quarter: Exemplary five long years. Thanks to the ransom paid (1613), Journey to Parnassus (1614)

Cover photography: ©Amador Toril photography: Cover by the Trinitarians monks, Cervantes was and the second part of (1615). able to return to Spain. He had already fallen ill by the time he com- After these adventurous years, he pub- pleted The trials of Persiles and Sigismunda, lished his first great , his final work, which was published posthu- (1585). In his early years as a literary author, mously in 1617. he showed a keen interest in the dramatic He passed away on 22 April 1616 and was genre and indeed some of his plays were buried the following day at the Convent of performed on the stages of Madrid. the Trinitarias.

D.L.: M-20347-2016 B.O.C.M. M-20347-2016 D.L.:

www.museocasanataldecervantes.org

28801 ALCALÁ DE HENARES. MADRID HENARES. DE ALCALÁ 28801

C/ MAYOR, 48 MAYOR, C/ english THE MUSEUM GROUND FLOOR surgical instruments, spice racks, alembics, FIRST FLOOR the portrait of a mature Miguel de Cervantes medical treatises and a barber’s chair in- are displayed. Miguel de Cervantes’s birthplace has long The first space that visitors enter is the spired by the gout stools used by Spanish The room dedicated to the Master Pedro’s The women and children slept in dif- been debated and questioned. It was not central courtyard, which features the origi- monarchs. In this same room is a mural puppet show” is a scenographic display ferent rooms from the men, in ladies, du- until 1948 that Luis Astrana Marín, author of nal stone well that supplied the house with decorated with fresco paintings. This wall featuring the characters, scenery and a ennas (widows who acted as chaperones) The heroic and exemplary life of Miguel de water for everyday use. The lower gallery is is one of the house’s original elements and dramatised recording of one of the most and children’s chambers. This is an emi- Cervantes Saavedra, proclaimed this very supported by eight columns with Corinthi- confirms the theory of its existence in the renowned passages from don Quixote nently female realm, divided into three building as such. an capitals originating from the Episcopal mid-16th century. (2nd Part. Ch. XXV et seq.), in commemo- separate spaces: the private bathing and Palace in Alcalá de Henares, while the up- ration of the author’s fondness for puppet dressing room, the women and children’s per gallery has wooden posts and a balus- theatres. chamber, and the estrado del cariño, or trade of the same material. private parlour, with the cradle evoking Cervantes’ birth. Two exhibition rooms display part of 8 the museum’s collection of more than 200 editions of Cervantes’s works. The 4 8 selection of works and pages are changed

6 periodically for conservation purposes. 3 5 Some of the most notable works include 6 4 the copy of don Quixote from 1605 (one 7 3 of the few rare copies of this illegal print- A doorway in the dining room leads to ing), the first English translation of the 1 5 First opened to the public in 1956 as a house 4 2 a small kitchen with a fireplace, where the two parts of don Quixote (1620), and the 7 museum, the building has undergone nu- household would gather. This is decorated 1 French edition of La Galatea (1611). The 6 museum also has a Braille edition of don merous renovations and transformations, In the hall or drawing room, visitors can with utensils and arrangements of fruit and 2 always preserving the original parts. In this admire the armchairs or “friar’s chairs” ar- vegetables, spices typically found in Medi- Quixote, available on request to visually house, the everyday life of a wealthy Span- ranged around a brazier. The draped fabrics terranean and Islamic dishes, and large clay 3 impaired visitors. ish family in the 16th and 17th centuries is and embossed leather covering the walls ground floor jars used to store water from the well and recreated in detail. helped to keep in the warmth provided by 1 Courtyard oil for cooking and lighting the rooms. The property is situated in the historic the heater. The tour of the ground floor ends with a first floor 2 Hall city of Alcalá de Henares, next to the Hos- The surgery is a room dedicated to Ro- visit to the ladies’ drawing room where the 1 Corridor pital de Antezana, where the writer’s father, drigo de Cervantes and displays all the in- 3 Surgery women would sit on cushions a la morisca, Master Pedro’s puppet show Rodrigo de Cervantes, may have worked. struments associated with his profession: 4 Kitchen or Moorish style, to read, play music, do 2 Gentleman’s bedroom 5 Dining Room needlework, pray or talk. Rugs, mats and 3 braziers are other typical features of this Women & children’s chamber 6 Audiovisual room/Wine Cellar 4 type of room. Bathing & dressing room 7 Ladies’ drawing room 5 6 Private parlour 8 Assembly room 8 7 Publications room 1

photographs 8 Temporary exhibitions room Adjacent to this room is the dining 1 El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Qvixote de la Mancha. room, which is decorated with a panel of Pub. Lisbon, 1605. ornamental tiles like the ones found at the Next to this room is the Gentleman’s 2 Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes. Anonymous, Escorial Monastery and features a selection bedroom, which recreates the chamber 20th Century. Museum facade, Calle Mayor. of the most widely used crockery of the pe- used by the writer’s grandfather, Juan de 3 4 Detail of the well in the courtyard. riod: ceramics from Talavera and Puente del Cervantes, a graduate of law, who was 5 Rodrigo de Cervantes’ surgery. Arzobispo (Toledo), lustreware from Ma- actually the master of this property. An 6 Dining room. nises (Valencia) and pieces from Villafeliche interesting collection of desks, braziers and 7 Vihuela in the ladies’ drawing room. 5 (Zaragoza). 7 trunks, evoking his fondness for travel, and 8 Temporary exhibitions room.

MUSEUMS AND HALLS COMUNIDAD DE MADRID

MUSEO CASA NATAL CENTRO DE INTERPRETACIÓN SALA ALCALÁ 31 DE CERVANTES DE NUEVO BAZTÁN C/ ALCALÁ, 31 C/MAYOR, 48 PLAZA DE LA IGLESIA, S/N 28014. MADRID 28801. ALCALÁ DE HENARES. MADRID 28514. NUEVO BAZTÁN, MADRID www.madrid.org www.museocasanataldecervantes.org www.madrid.org SALA CANAL DE ISABEL II CASA MUSEO MUSEO ARQUEÓLOGICO C/ SANTA ENGRACIA, 125 LOPE DE VEGA REGIONAL 28003. MADRID www.madrid.org C/ CERVANTES, 11 PLAZA DE LAS BERNARDAS, S/N 28801. ALCALÁ DE HENARES. MADRID 28014. MADRID SALA www.casamuseolopedevega.org www.madrid.org/ ARTE JOVEN museoarqueologicoregional AVDA. DE AMÉRICA 13 MUSEO PICASSO 28002. MADRID COLECCIÓN EUGENIO ARIAS CA2M CENTRO DE ARTE www.madrid.org DOS DE MAYO PLAZA DE PICASSO, 1 SALA EL ÁGUILA 28730. BUITRAGO DEL LOZOYA, MADRID AVDA. DE LA CONSTITUCIÓN, 23 C/RAMÍREZ DE PRADO, 3 www.madrid.org/museopicasso 28931. MÓSTOLES, MADRID www.ca2m.org 28045. MADRID www.madrid.org