Nearly 400 years since the death of Spain's most famous writer, scientists are using ground-penetrating radar to search for Miguel de Cervantes' body.
It's believed to be buried in the foundation or walls of a 17th century convent in downtown Madrid — the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians — built in 1612, and now surrounded by 21st century tapas bars and traffic.
On Monday, NPR got a sneak peak inside the convent, where a dozen cloistered Catholic nuns — aged 23 to 92 — live. They sing at Mass each morning, hidden behind a second-floor screen, out of public view. And they are the keepers of the legend of Cervantes' final resting place.
"For 400 years, we have kept Cervantes' last dying wish, to be buried here," says Mara Jos, the nuns' secretary and the only one allowed to speak to visitors. "We have passed down the memory of the documents that registered his burial here, even though the documents themselves have all since been lost."
i i