Cervantes literary free tour of Alcalá de Henares

Did you know that Alcalá de Henares still has the font in which Miguel de Cervantes was baptised? This literary free tour explores the city where he was born and shows you what life was like in Golden Age Spain.

The route starts on Calle Mayor, at the Hospital de Antezana, where you'll go into the entrance hall and learn about its connection with the writer's father. From there you'll discover the history of the Cervantes Birthplace Museum, the family's old home, which today preserves its kitchens and rooms and holds an extensive collection of copies of Don Quixote in many languages.

Then you'll walk along Calle de la Imagen, linked to the Cervantes family and to a prominent figure of the Second Republic, and through the square of the Palacio de los Arzobispos de Toledo, with remains of the old city walls. After the Old Prison and the Hospital de Santa María la Rica you'll reach Plaza de Cervantes where, in the Capilla del Oidor, you can see the font in which he was baptised on 9 October 1547. The walk ends next to the University of Alcalá, founded by Cardinal Cisneros.

Cervantes's trail continues in Madrid, where the free tour of the Barrio de las Letras stops in front of the convent that holds his remains, and in La Mancha, with the Don Quixote literary route through Ciudad Real.