I was looking at a map of DC with a guide to the statues and memorials in DC. I was surprised to see there is apparently a statue of Don Quiote (sp?) in DC located in the general direction of the US Naval Observatory as one leaves the Mall area, IIRC. For a city screaming for space for more memorials, why is a fictional character being honored in our nation’s capital? And, of all characters - how fitting! Is it to represent how quixotic we are about wanting to improve our government?
(And it’s spelled “Don Quixote.” You’re not going to be able to Google for it unless you spell it right.)
It’s in the gardens of the Kennedy Center. I have no idea why it’s there. I presume that they wanted to put a few pieces of art next to the Center which represented great works of world art. It’s certainly not well known. I’ve lived in the Washington area for 19 of the last 22 years and I’d never heard of it. And, despite the fact that I’ve been to the Kennedy Center quite a few times, I don’t think I remember seeing it. The Kennedy Center is nowhere close to the Naval Observatory.
While it’s true that Washington is a bit overloaded with statues as is, the Don Quixote one isn’t part of the problem. It’s stuck off somewhere that’s not visible to the average tourist. The real problem is the statues still hanging around from Civil War times. Back then there was no rule about waiting till after someone’s death before erecting a statue to them, so there are lots of statues of Civil War generals.
