Venta+del+Quijote

= Venta del Quijote = The Venta del Quijote is a famous restaurant in the small town of Puerto Lapice on the La Mancha plains. The restaurant was made famous in the 17th century novel //Don Quixote// in a well known scene in which Don Quixote believes the typical inn to be some sort of palace, the innkeeper to be a member of royalty, and local prostitutes to be princesses. Quixote has already headed out on his mission, but realized, according to his books he can not defend the area as a knight if he has not been properly knighted.

While at the "castle," Don Quixote performs rituals to cleanse his armor in the castle's sacred water, which is really a horse trough. When some other patrons of the inn remove his armor from the water, Don Quixote attacks them. Soon, the other residents of the inn are throwing things at the mad man, and the innkeeper steps in to "knight" Quixote before a riot can erupt.

The Venta del Quijote, which now carries the name of its famous fictional customer, is still there today. It can be visited for lunch or dinner, and host an annual Quixote festival in which some of the most famous scenes from the novel are played out by local actors.