Don Quixote is pronounced Key-ho-tay, with the accent on the second syllable. "Don" is not a name but title of respect. The book, published in 1605 with a sequel in 1615, is considered the first modern novel. It is also one of the most translated books in the world as well as being one of the best-selling of all time.
Up until then, chivalric romances had been the most popular style of fictional writing. Cervantes viewed these works as silly wastes of time and his novel spoofs them unmercifully. His chief character is a member of the lowest level of the nobility and Sancho Panza, the secondary character, is a simple farm laborer. Don Quixote goes mad while reading chivalric romances and decides he is a famous knight who must set off on a great quest.
In this posting, I'll briefly outline the story of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. I'll also show you both Plaza Allende and the nearby Jardin Embajadoras (Garden of the Ambassadors) and relate some the history of each.
Don Quixote, in all his mad glory. I don't know if the sculptor intended it, but Rocinante seems be getting quite a chuckle out of the whole thing. By the beginning of the 17th century, the era of medieval knights was a fading memory. During the previous couple of centuries, fully-armored and mounted noblemen had been repeatedly defeated by common foot soldiers.
Carole walks in the plaza. Behind her is the small stone Teatro Cervantes. The theatre was inaugurated in 1979 by Carmen Romano de Lopez Portillo, the wife of the then-President of Mexico. The Teatro and its plaza is one of many venues in Guanajuato where the activities of the annual Festival Cervantes are held. Unfortunately, the theatre was locked, so we couldn't get a peek inside. The statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are just out of view on the hillside to the right.
A biker bar is located across Calle Sangre de Cristo from Teatro Cervantes. Oddly, the sign over its door is in English, giving the bar's name as "The Beer Company". Although small, it is a two story building with an umbrella-shaded deck on top. The line of motorcycles along one side suggests that this is a popular bar for Mexican bikers.
A group of foreign tourists walks along the length of the plaza. Beyond them, a six-story apartment building faces the plaza and its statues. The apartments on the second through the fourth stories have French doors and balconies, features which probably make them popular.
A small dog was carefully scrutinizing us from its high perch. Carole's sharp eye picked out this pooch on one of the building's balconies. Although it was a warm day, the little dog was wearing a coat. A worn boot stood next to the dog. The boot's mate was missing, so either it fell off the balcony or perhaps the remaining boot was a favorite chew toy.
A colorful array of buildings surrounds the south end of Plaza Allende. The intersection above is where Calle Sangre de Cristo meets Calle Sostenes Rocha. Close to this intersection is an attractive little restaurant with the unusual name of "La Vida sin ti."
Overview of Plaza Allende
Google satellite view of Plaza Allende. In my last couple of postings, I showed the andador (walking street) called Manuel Doblado. If you continue to follow it from Plaza Ropero, it will lead you directly to Plaza Allende. Alternatively, if you follow the callejon (alleyway) called Del Campanero that runs under the pedestrian bridge of the Santo Café (another site from my last posting), it will also take you to Plaza Allende. The Plaza can be found at the bottom center of the photo above.
As early as the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), English archers wielding their long bows had repeatedly slaughtered heavily-armored French knights. In other wars, Swiss foot soldiers were able to capture or kill Austrian knights by using hooked pikes to pull them off their horses. When gunpowder use became widespread, the armored warrior's day was over. It took awhile for Europe's nobility to accept that they could easily be killed by the lowliest peasant, if he was armed with gun.
It was in this context that chivalric romances had become popular, somewhat like the 20th century American fascination with 19th century cowboys on their cattle drives and wagon trains fighting off Indian attacks. The works written about those earlier periods were full of sentimental nonsense that ignored hard dirty realities that were sometimes dangerous but mostly filled with boredom. Cervantes' book was an antidote for romantic tales of chivalry.
In the book, a minor nobleman from La Mancha named Alonso Quijano goes mad from reading too many chivalric romances. He decides that his real name is Don Quixote de la Mancha and that his duty is to become a knight-errant and serve his nation by reviving chivalry.
Since every knight needs one, Quixote selects the earthy peasant Sancho Panza as his squire. Strapping on a rusty suit of armor, Don Quixote sets off on his mighty steed, an old workhorse Rocinante. Chivalry also requires a lady love, so he picks a local slaughterhouse worker named Aldonza Lorenzo and renames her Dulcinea del Toboso.
When the newly re-named Don Quixote sets out, his first stop is an inn. He believes it to be a castle, filled with noble ladies, who are actualy prostitutes. Quixote insists that the innkeeper (the "lord" of the castle) must dub him as a knight. The innkeeper is understandably dubious about all of this.
Adhering to one of the classic rituals of knighthood, Don Quixote keeps vigil at the castle's chapel (a horse trough). When some muleteers want to water their animals, he gets into a brawl with them for disturbing his vigil. The innkeeper finally goes through with the knighthood ceremony in order to get rid of this madman.
After leaving the inn, Don Quixote encounters a servant being beaten by his master. The knight-errant orders the master to stop the beating and release the unfortunate servant. The man complies but resumes his beating as soon as Quixote leaves. He next encounters some traders along the road and becomes angry with them when they refuse to believe his Dulcinea is the most beautiful woman in the world. Charging on Rocinante, he falls off and one of the traders beats him up, leaving him unconscious.
Found by a kind peasant, he is brought home still unconscious. His housekeeper-niece and the parish priest decide to burn all his chivalric romances in order to bring him back to reality and end these crazy adventures. They are among several people in the story who step forward to rescue Don Quixote when he gets himself (and sometimes Sancho) in trouble.
Soon, Don Quixote recovers enough to set out on another adventure. In one of the most famous incidents, he mistakes some windmills for giant monsters and decides to charge them, with disastrous results. This has become the common expression "tilting at windmills", meaning to attempt something that is utterly foolish and misguided. The description of some course of action as "quixotic" has a similar meaning.
During Cervantes' story, Don Quixote and Sancho have a great many other hilarious adventures. Usually, these end up with one or both of them in trouble. At the end of the book published in 1605, Quixote gets into yet another fight. This time, he is thoroughly beaten up by a goatherd and some pilgrims and is again brought home. The first book ends here, but Cervantes wrote a sequel, which was published in 1615.
Two foreign tourists study the menu at La vida sin ti. The name of this restaurant/bar means "The life without you". I speculated that the owner was mourning the end of a treasured relationship. On the other hand, perhaps s/he was celebrating its end, as in "good riddance!" We decided that this was just another of life's little mysteries and headed toward our next destination: Jardin Embajadoras.
Jardin Embajadoras is shaped a little like a hockey stick. To reach it, just follow Calle Sangre de Cristo from Plaza Allende. The "paddle" of the hockey stick is thickly wooded, but among the trees are some interesting structures.
A pedestrian overpass enables those on foot to safely enter the Jardin. Traffic on Guanajuato's streets can be chaotic, particularly given the large number of motorcycles that zoom around in all directions. The pedestrian overpass not only provides safety, but is also an attractive addition to the Jardin. This land was originally part of Hacienda San Agustin. Up until 1741, when Guanajuato was officially recognized as a city, the edge of the Jardin marked the town's administrative limit.
A statue mounted over a fountain is located in the wooded section. This is known as the Columna de la Libertad (Column of Liberty). The sculptor was a Guanajuato artist named Jesus Fructuoso Contreras. He has been called "the most representative sculptor of late 19th century Mexico". The statue above is of a woman, holding a torch aloft with her right hand and cradling a stone tablet with her left.
A snarling lion appears on each of the four sides of the statue's base. Since there was no sign to provide information about the statue and its fountain, I had to do a considerable amount of Googling to discover the monument's name and sculptor.
Monument honoring the Mexican flag. The monument has a soldier standing on one side and a mine worker on the other. According to the sign on the monument, it was dedicated on September 16, 1949 as part of the celebration of Independencia, held annually on that day.
Although the sequel of the 1605 book came out ten years later, today the two are published together as one book. Don Quixote has many additional adventures in the 1615 book, but finally comes to his senses. Before he dies, he apologizes for any harm he has done. The second book came out less than a year before Cervantes' own death in April of 1616.
Jardin Embajadoras
This completes Part 16 of my Guanajuato Revisited series and I hope you have enjoyed it. If so, please leave any thoughts or questions in the Comments section below or email me directly. If you leave a question, please remember to include your email address so that I may respond in a timely manner.
Hasta luego, Jim
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