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Dulcinea of El Toboso

El Toboso, La Mancha de Toledo, Toledo

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 2 Activities · 2 Curiosities · 1 Food and drink

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Dulcinea of El Toboso

Curiosity · El Toboso, La Mancha de Toledo, Toledo

The town owes its international fame to Cervantes, who made it the homeland of Dulcinea, the lady imagined by don Quijote; the place name is documented from 1338, and the town obtained its title in 1480. Dulcinea del Toboso, a fictional character who never speaks or appears in person in the novel, was inspired by Cervantes on the peasant woman Aldonza Lorenzo, daughter of Lorenzo Corchuelo and Aldonza Nogales, whom don Quijote transformed into the lady of his thoughts, the peerlessly beautiful “empress of La Mancha”. In the second part of the work, don Quijote persists in searching for her in El Toboso, and Sancho Panza even presents him with a supposed Dulcinea to calm his madness.

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