The route of Delibes' 'The Heretic' through Valladolid: following Cipriano Salcedo in 10 steps

Miguel Delibes observes, hieratically, those who enter the Campo Grande of Valladolid from the Plaza de Zorrilla. The statue of the novelist in front of the park where he liked to get lost, dressed in his overcoat, books in hand, glasses, scarf and umbrella, accompanies with his gaze both those who cross the grove and those who conclude there an evocative route of his latest novel. The Heretic turns 25 this autumn and with the silver anniversary of this National Narrative Award, the reasons to follow the adventures of Cipriano Salcedo, the protagonist of the work, in his city increase. In the sixteenth century, this now central area was a suburb for heretics and enemies of the Catholic faith. There is the story that the condemned burned and, being easy to imagine the end of the character, the Valladolid tour of The Heretic concludes.

The walk crosses 10 emblematic places of the city and offers a literary perspective to get to know the historical and heritage richness of Valladolid in a different way. The plates collect excerpts from the book to contextualize what happened at those points.

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24 hours in Valladolid, city of museums, of Zorrilla, Delibes and Colón

The sculpture in homage to the writer Miguel Delibes, next to the Campo Grande in Valladolid.Teo Moreno Moreno (Alamy / CORDON PRESS)

Majestic St. Paul's

Delibes gave birth to Cipriano Salcedo on October 31, 1517 at number 5 of Corredera de San Pablo, now Calle de las Angustias, also home to the Calderón Theater, a few steps below the location marked by the book. The man was born on the same day that Martin Luther hung his 95 reformist theses in the Catholic church in Wittenberg, Germany. What a coincidence. Charles I of Spain and V of Germany, a Germanic epithet so hated in Castile because it was understood that Austria would forget the citizens of Castile, is evoked in the bronze plaques scattered along this route. In this case, on one side of the Royal Palace, where he criticizes the management of subsidies. Kings Charles I, Philip II, Philip III lived there and Philip IV was born in 1605, as Valladolid was the national capital between 1601 and 1606.

The church of San Pablo, in the square of the same name in the city of Valladolid.Sergey Dzyuba (Alamy / CORDON PRESS)

In front of the palace stands the majestic church of St. Paul, in a late Gothic style. There, legend has it, Philip II was baptized in 1527 after being taken out of the window of the adjoining palace of Pimentel so that this temple could host the rite and not the church of San Martín, corresponding if he left through the door. It was Philip II himself who authorized the autos-da-fé that Delibes collects at the end of the volume.

St. Brigid's Square

This nearby square is the second stage and alludes to the role of justice in that time of the Inquisition. The sign, anchored in the Palace of Licenciado Francisco Butrón, at the intersection with Calle de San Diego, commemorates Ignacio Salcedo, Cipriano's uncle, judge of the Chancery of Valladolid. This building currently serves as the headquarters for the Archive of the Junta de Castilla y León and is considered as a possible home for the Delibes Museum, which did not exist in his native Valladolid despite the novelist's status.

Palaces of the nobility

Calle de la Platería, together with Plaza del Ochavo, is part of the mercantile complex of the old Plaza del Mercado in Valladolid and the artisans' quarter. Ruhey (GETTY IMAGES)

Calle de San Ignacio, a little further on from the previous point, still has some of the more than 400 palaces of that courtly and prestigious Valladolid. The plaque, on one side of Calle de la Concepción, mentions Don Carlos de Seso, who is credited with the creation of the Lutheran group in Valladolid. Leonor de Vivero and her son, Dr. Cazalla, commemorated with a nearby street, are more real figures to whom history assigns this reformist role, later punished by the Holy Office. Between Las Brígidas and the recognizable Fabio Nelli Palace, adjacent to the plaque, is the Plaza del Viejo Coso, an old bullring (the first in the city) converted into a residential space and well worth a visit... without being distracted from the plot of The Heretic.

Trinity Square

What in the sixteenth century was the warehouse of the Jewish quarter and foundling hospital is known today in the city as Plaza de la Biblioteca de Castilla y León, where pucelanos eager for readings or kids studying inside and walking outside swarm. Cipriano, as a child, spent several years in that foundling school until his wealthy uncle Ignacio claimed him. The wool warehouse he inherited was located in the old Jewish quarter of Valladolid. Nearby is the Parque de las Moreras, next to the Pisuerga River and the then only crossing over the riverbed, the Puente Mayor, a route for trade with Burgos and the subsequent transfer of wool to Europe.

Santo Domingo de Guzmán Street

The street of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, little frequented despite its charming yellow walls and cobblestone floor, had several convents during The Heretic. The monastery of St. Catherine of Siena is still active. There, Delibes wrote, Luther's followers met clandestinely to discuss the faith and read the forbidden works obtained from Estraperlo. At the end of the road stands the monumental church of San Agustín.

Chapel of the Counts of Fuensaldaña

The author narrates in detail the burial of Leonor de Vivero, mother of Dr. Cazalla. The silence of the funeral was interrupted by a "To the stake!" which illustrated the suspicions of her on the part of Catholic society. His house also welcomed Lutherans for support. The chapel of the Counts of Fuensaldaña has now been converted into a room of the Patio Herreriano Museum, another attraction in Valladolid that must be visited taking advantage of the route.

Golden Fountain Square

The walk continues towards the centre of the city and the Plaza de la Fuente Dorada takes on a double role: first, in the current Calle de Cánovas del Castillo and formerly Calle de Orates, Teodomira Centeno, Cipriano's wife, was admitted for mental illness. Later, the procession of heretics would pass through it from the prison of the Inquisition to the auto-da-fé in the nearby Plaza Mayor, the next stop on the tour.

Plaza Mayor

The centre of the centre of Valladolid, with its majestic Town Hall and a typical Castilian porch setting, hosted auto-da-fés such as those of Salcedo and his own. The documentation carried out by Delibes confirmed up to 27 convictions in 1559, with Philip II as honorary assistant and imam for the population. These acts made it possible to show the imperial strength and threatened the people about what would happen to them if they deviated.

The Atrium of St. James

In this church, located on the side of the artery of Calle de Santiago, Dr. Agustín Cazalla, of high social prestige at that time but reviled as theories about his Lutheran faith proliferated, preached. Cazalla could not escape the purifying flames and was part of the entourage that traveled along that road towards the fire, now a commercial and pedestrian crossing for walkers less persecuted for their beliefs than in Delibes' novel.

Plaza de Zorrilla

"From the top of the donkey, Cipriano saw the rows of sticks, the loads of firewood, the ladders, the rings to tie up the prisoners, the nervous comings and goings of guards and executioners at the foot," writes Delibes while his protagonist goes to the burning place mentioned at the beginning of this text. The route ends very close to the statue of the novelist, in an open and green environment in front of the Cavalry Academy and in that Campo Grande protected on both sides by the statues of José Zorrilla and Christopher Columbus, two of the illustrious – real – characters of Valladolid.

Statue of poet and writer José Zorrilla next to the Cavalry Academy in Valladolid.David Andres Gurierrez (GETTY IMAGES)

This is the end of the 10 steps of The Heretic's itinerary through Valladolid – the City Council also organises dramatised routes following this route. It is at the disposal of each walker to stop at the bars that accompany each stage or take a detour to enjoy the city while following the adventures of Cipriano. Beyond the city are the Torozos or Santovenia de Pisuerga mountains, more locations for the brave who dare to walk completely over the pages of Miguel Delibes. In a couple of hours, very calmly, they can cover the central route to before, during or after, taste wines such as those from Cigales, so sought-after by Delibes and, of course, mentioned in The Heretic.

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