As the Western Reserve Academy travelers continue their jouney southwest from Toledo to Cordoba, they will be crossing the wide area of “La Mancha”, the south part of Castile, Castilla, the land of the castles. This area of Spain is famous for many reasons, queso manchego (cheese), wineries, windmills, and the most famous Spanish novel character, Don Quixote, the "Man of La Mancha."Windmills have existed in Spain since the 9th century, although usually the ancient peoples would build watermills. At those times, Spain was under the Moorish domination, and this area of La Mancha was called Al-Ansha (meaning dry or empty earth). In a dry area, watermills were not possible, and therefore windmills started to be built all over the dry central plateau of Spain.
Being the second most mountainous country in Europe (after Switzerland), Spain has many windy areas, which are covered by modern windmills, generating huge amounts of eco-friendly energy. WRA will cross some of them here and there, along with the very famous hill of Consuegra: Calderico.
Consuegra
Windmills from the 16th century, such as these in Consuegra inspired Miguel de Cervantes to create the famous episode of the battle against the giants in his work "Don Quixote." Beyond the plain round façade, you can find smart machinery that made bread the principal food during that time as well as the windmill owner a rich man and an important position.
In Consuegra, the Calderico ridge is a rocky outcrop which rises above the plain of La Mancha. This is the site of the La Muela or Consuegra castle, which is Muslim in origin but modified and extended during the 12th century by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. It has three defensive enclosures and has been restored in recent decades.
However this ridge is known above all because it is home to twelve of the thirteen windmills that originally stood here, all of which have been christened with names taken from the immortal work 'Don Quixote'. Four of them still conserve their machinery in good working order. The windmill known as "Molino Sancho" is particularly interesting and dates from the 16th century. It is used as the venue for the Consuegra Saffron Festival. There is at least one windmill that is almost always open to visitors. So, if you make a stop there, make sure to have a look at this “different” historical witness.
References:
www.spain.info/en/
www.turismocastillalamancha.com
www.spaincenter.org
www.consuegra.es
web.jet.es/plopezp/index.html
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