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All Belgium Brussels ‘Don Quixote and Sancho Panza’
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‘Don Quixote and Sancho Panza’

A largely overlooked statue that may commemorate the first publication of 'Don Quixote' outside of Spain.

Brussels, Belgium

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
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In the middle of Brussels's city center stands a pair of statues unmistakably portraying the famous Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Located between Place d'Espagne and Boulevard de l'Imperatrice, the sculpture is a replica of the Monument to Miguel de Cervantes in Madrid, created in 1929 by Lorenzo Coullaut Valera.

The statue features the titular character of Cervantes's 17th-century novel, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha—better known as simply Don Quixote. Our protagonist is on horseback, while his squire Sancho Panza rides a donkey.

Though what the statue commemorates is up for speculation, it is supposed that it was installed in the 1990s in remembrance of the first publication of Don Quixote outside the Iberian Peninsula, which was an edition printed in Brussels in 1607.

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Published

November 12, 2024

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