Spain has given a formal burial to its world-renowned novelist and poet Miguel de Cervantes nearly 400 years after his death.

The burial ceremony was held in the Spanish capital, where a funeral monument holds the recently unearthed bone fragments believed to include those belonging to Cervantes.

The bones, found in the crypt of Madrid’s Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in March, date back to the 17th century. Researchers at the site said some of the skeletal remains belonged to Cervantes who died in April 1616.

“Today just a year away from the 400th anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes’ death, we repay a debt to the greatest writer in the Spanish language,” said mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella during the burial ceremony on Thursday.

Miguel de Cervantes is best known for his novel Don Quixote, which is considered to be the first modern European novel and among the best works of fiction ever written.

Don Quixote recounts the adventures of a nameless hidalgo who is an avid reader of chivalric romances. He loses his sanity as a result of his obsession and decides to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world, under the name Don Quixote.

Cervantes is highly honored in Spain and the anniversary of his death on April 23 is celebrated each year with a marathon reading of Don Quixote by dozens of political and cultural figures.

The writer has been dubbed ‘The Prince of Wits’ in Spain and the Spanish language is often called the language of Cervantes due to the great influence of the writer on it.

TE/HSN