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 Director dismisses reports that shoot for Don Quixote movie caused damage to 12th-century Convento de Cristo in Tomar 
 
 The film-maker Terry Gilliam has denied allegations that a famous Portuguese convent was damaged during the shooting of his long-delayed take on Don Quixote, telling people to get their facts straight “before howling hysterically”. 
 
 
 
 A report by the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP suggested recent filming for The Man Who Killed Don Quixote left behind chipped masonry, broken roof tiles and uprooted trees at the 12th-century Convent of Christ in Tomar, central Portugal. 
 
 The convent, once a stronghold of the Knights Templar, is classed as a Unesco world heritage site. The Portuguese government is investigating the claims. 
 
 Terry Gilliam saddles up for seventh tilt at Don Quixote film Read more 
 
 But Gilliam, 76, who has been trying to film an adaptation of Cervantes’s tale of the deluded knight for 17 years, dismissed the reports as “ignorant nonsense”. 
 
 Writing on Facebook, he said: “I think the [Convento de Cristo] is one of the most glorious buildings I have ever seen. Everything we did there was to protect the building from harm … and we succeeded. Trees were not cut down, stones were not broken.” 
 
 
 
 The former Monty Python star added: “There was not an iota of disrespect involved. People should begin by getting the facts before howling hysterically.” 
 
 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Terry Gilliam has spent 17 years trying to complete his Don Quixote quest. Photograph: Laura Lezza/Getty Images 
 
 His agents said they had no comment. 
 
 A spokeswoman for the government department responsible for Portugal’s cultural heritage confirmed an investigation was under way but said she had few details. 
 
 “The decision was announced on Saturday so it’s still very early on in the inquiry,” she said. 
 
 Gilliam embarked on his film in 2000, but the project was beset by a catalogue of disasters that included torrential rain and constant flyovers by military jets from a nearby Nato base. Almost two decades on, however, his quest is almost at an end. 
 
 “Sorry for the long silence,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday. “After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. Muchas gracias to all the team and believers. QUIXOTE VIVE! (QUIXOTE VIVE!)” 
 
 The new version features British actor Jonathan Pryce as the man driven out of his mind by tales of chivalric adventure. 
 
 Also on board is US actor Adam Driver, best known as the villainous Kylo Ren in Star Wars: the Force Awakens, and the Ukrainian-born French actor Olga Kurylenko, who starred opposite Daniel Craig in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace. 
 
 The history of Gilliam’s disastrous first attempt to film his Quixote project has passed into folklore: there is even a 2002 documentary, Lost in La Mancha, that chronicles the enterprise. 
 
 But Gilliam, whose other films include Time Bandits, Brazil and Twelve Monkeys refused to give up. “Shooting my version of Don Quixote is a medical obligation,” he told El País last year. “It’s a brain tumour I have to eradicate.” ||||| Image copyright Getty Images Image caption A statue of Don Quixote in Madrid. The book is thought to be one of the most widely read on the planet 
 
 Forensic scientists looking for the body of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes say they have found five possible sites at a Madrid church. 
 
 The author of Don Quixote died in 1616 and is considered one of Spain's most important literary figures. 
 
 His burial was recorded at the Convent of Trinitarians in Spain's capital but the exact location is unknown. 
 
 Experts say the work of exhuming and analysing any findings is expected to take several months. 
 
 The search team, including historians, used infrared cameras, 3D scanners and ground-penetrating radar to pinpoint the possible sites. 
 
 "It is like a patient who is going to have surgery, doctors must take X-rays first," forensic anthropologist Francisco Exteberria told local press. 
 
 But he warned enthusiasts to contain their excitement for now, saying he did not want to "generate false hopes." 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption The team is negotiating with the church authorities for permission to dig under the convent 
 
 "We still have hope that if Cervantes' remains were not moved they have to be somewhere under this site," Mr Exteberria added. 
 
 If human bones are found, forensic scientists will rely on the author's specific physical characteristics as documented in portraits or his own stories to identify his remains. 
 
 Cervantes is recorded as having been shot three times during the Battle of Lepanto, a naval conflict in 1571 between an alliance led by Spain and the Ottoman fleet. 
 
 Two of the musket shots hit the writer's chest and the other hit his left hand, causing him to lose the use of it. 
 
 If Cervantes's remains are identified they will remain in the convent, which is still inhabited by nuns and has been designated part of Madrid's cultural heritage since 1921. 
 
 Historians say an official burial site at the church would attract a significant number of tourists and literary pilgrims to the city. 
 
 Born near Madrid in 1547, Cervantes has been dubbed the father of the modern novel for "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha", published in two parts in 1605 and 1615. 
 
 The book is thought to be one of the most widely read and translated books on the planet.
– Terry Gilliam is finally making his long-delayed Don Quixote movie, but not without controversy: Portuguese public broadcaster RTP reported that while filming The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, Gilliam's crew damaged a famous Portuguese convent. Per RTP, the 12th-century Convento de Cristo, which was once a Knights Templar stronghold and is a designated UNESCO world heritage site, was left with roof tiles broken, trees uprooted, and masonry chipped. Gilliam, however, posted on Facebook Sunday that the report is "ignorant nonsense" and denied the accusations. "Everythng we did there was to protect the building from harm ... and we succeeded," he wrote. However, a government spokesperson says an investigation is underway, the Guardian reports.