Spanish forensic scientists have announced plans to search for the body of influential 15th century literary figure Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote in Madrid.
The search will cost an estimated €100,000 euros (£82,000), with the team using ground-penetrating radar in their attempt to find Cervantes’ remains within the grounds of the convento de San Ildefonso de las Trinitarias in Madrid.
Despite penning the most influential work of literature in the entire Spanish literary canon in The Indigenous Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, Cervantes died in poverty on 22 April 1616, and is believed to have been buried the next day in the church of the Convent of Trinitarians. However, the precise location of his burial remains unknown.
The search is scheduled to begin on Monday, but the process of exhuming and analysing and identifying any remains they find will be a painstaking process that is expected to to a number of months.