5 Best places to see and visit Mills in La Mancha

Until my recent trip to see some of the most important corners of the Don Quixote Route, I was not aware of the attractiveness of windmills of La Mancha.

And even more specifically the interest it arouses among tourists who visit Spain.

On this trip I was able to see how to see the windmills of La Mancha has become a prominent stopover for European, American, Chinese and Japanese tourists who travel by car or bus from Madrid o Toledo to Andalusian cities like Cordova o Grenada.

The truth is that for the Spanish the windmills They are part of the most typical images we have of our country.

But seeing the interest with which tourists visit the places in La Mancha where there are mills It's when you look at its really curious and attractive image.

Furthermore, and within the framework of the Don Quixote Route, the mills bring to mind the famous Giants of the great literary work of Cervantes.

Best places to see windmills in La Mancha

ButWhat are the best places where you can see windmills? en Castilla la Mancha?

Below I am going to indicate the three places that could be considered the most outstanding, which I have visited on my aforementioned getaway to the La Mancha, and I will suggest another couple of corners.

And I tell you that there are others places in La Mancha where you can see mills, how can they be Puerto Lápice o Madridejos, which I hope to visit on future getaways.

How to see windmills in Consuegra

 

Before this recent trip, for me to talk about windmills of La Mancha was to refer to the Consuegra mills, a town in the province of Toledo.

I visited these mills many years ago on a winter day when it was also very windy.

We arrived at sunset and these mills have always remained in my retina as one of the most beautiful images of La Mancha.

Now the first feeling I have had is that it is a very touristy corner, and one of the best exponents of the attraction that I previously referred to that the mills have for tourists who visit Spain.

Located on a hill where the Consuegra castle, In actuality there are 11 mills which in the past were used for grinding wheat to obtain flour.

Each one with its own name, with names that remind us of the names of the bulls, such as, for example, Clavileño, Espartero, Sparks, Purple, Vista Alegre, Sancho, Backpacks, Mambrinoo Bolero.

Precisely in the aforementioned mill Bolero you find the tourist office, and you can also visit it to see its original machinery.

It should also be noted that in the mill Knight of the Green Coat has recently become gastromill, with the possibility of tasting the most typical dishes of the area.

How to see windmills in Campo de Criptana

If a special place in La Mancha to see mills, that is, without a doubt, Campo de Criptana, In the Ciudad Real province.

The reason? although in Campo de Criptana The mills extend along a hill, in this case they mix with the very bright white houses of the town that rise to the top of it.

In this way the one known as Albaicín neighborhood of Criptana, with steep streets of houses with white and indigo blue facades, climbs to the top of the hill so that the group of houses and mills forms a scene with special charm.

En Campo de Criptana, in the enclave promoted as Land of giants, you will see until 10 mills, of which three of them preserve the original structure and machinery from the 16th century, specifically those known as Infant, Burleta y Sardinero.

You find the latter in the lowest location, surrounded by houses, and in the mill known as Poyatos you have a tourist office.

Sara Montiel Museum in Campo de Criptana

Some of the other mills house small museums, like the one dedicated to Sara Montiel what do you find in the mill Culebro, and where one of her pianos is exhibited, as well as photographs and objects of the artist born in Campo de Criptana.

And for its part, in the mill Inca Garcilaso you find a museum dedicated to Holy Week.

Next to the mills there are a couple of bars-restaurants on whose terraces it is very pleasant to see the evening light falling on the town of Campo de Criptana.

How to see windmills in Mota del Cuervo

Raven Speck, in the province of Cuenca, it is a place that you may have heard about because of its pottery tradition, whose best example you find in the Cantarerías neighborhood and its Pottery Museum.

But Raven Speck you can too see windmills.

Balcony of La Mancha in Mota del Cuervo

Specifically, on a small hill that rises above the town you find a very interesting set of 7 windmills in the enclave known as the La Mancha balcony.

In reality, almost all of them are reconstructions carried out in the 60s, which emulate the mills that had existed in that place since the 24th century, of which it is said there were up to XNUMX.

Only one of them is original, the one known as The left handed, which appears cited in a cadastre from the year 1752.

This mill is precisely the last one that was in operation until 1929.

These are flour mills that were dedicated to grinding different types of cereals, including wheat and pea that were used to make bread and porridge.

As a curiosity, the mill The left handed It has that name because it is the only one of Raven Speck in moving its blades counterclockwise.

It should also be noted that the mill El Gigante, current headquarters of the tourist office of Mota del Cuervo.

This mill, rebuilt in 1967, serves the function of Milling Museum by having all the necessary machinery to grind, which is done every Saturday morning for the enjoyment of visitors.

How to see windmills in Alcázar de San Juan and Tembleque

I will also indicate to you that in Alcazar of San Juan, a large population of the province of Ciudad Real, in what is known as San Anton Hill you can see a set of 4 windmills, where there were 19 windmills and two water mills.

One of them houses the Manchego Landscape Interpretation Center and another has original machinery from the 16th century, which is used for grinding parties.

Here you can consult the schedules to visit the windmills of Alcázar de San Juan.

And finally I will tell you that for see mills in La Mancha from Madrid You don't have to make a long trip either.

Specifically, just over an hour from the capital, in the town of wobbly in the province of Toledo, on a hill you can see two windmills rebuilt.

Although my advice is that above all visit Tembleque to see her very pretty Plaza Mayor, a beautiful corner of truly spectacular La Mancha architecture.