this pressed: Coffin with Cervantes’ initials found in Madrid | Reuters

1 of 8. Forensic expert Francisco Etxeberria (R) and archaeologist Almudena Garcia Rubio hold pictures showing the remains of niches, one of them appeared with the letters M.C. on it, found in the crypt of Trinitarian convent as they pose outside the convent in Madrid January 26, 2015. Credit: Reuters/Sergio Perez

(Reuters) – Historians searching for the tomb of Spain’s greatest writer, Miguel de Cervantes, said on Monday they had found fragments of a coffin with his initials on it, under a convent where he may have been buried.

Four centuries after the writer of Don Quixote died, experts have been trying to locate his remains in the hope of establishing an official burial site that would attract tourists and literary pilgrims.

They began using ground-penetrating radar last April to explore the sub-soil of an old brick-walled convent in the heart of Madrid where the writer had asked to buried.

Researchers said on Monday they had found some bones and a crumbling casket after digging in the crypt. A piece of the coffin had the letters “M” and “C.” on it, spelled out in metal tacks, they said.

via Coffin with Cervantes’ initials found in Madrid | Reuters.