Windmills in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

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A Spanish knight's greatest foes. Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

In the Spanish town of Consuegra, echoes linger of the adventures of Don Quixote, the hero of Miguel de Cervantes' epic novel. This tourist destination in Castilla-La Mancha is famous for its rocky ridge, known as Cerro Calderico, crowned with 12 white windmills. The windmills are thought to have inspired Cervantes to write the famous scene in which Don Quixote mistakes them for an army of giants. With their stone walls and wooden blades, some date back to the 16th century, when they were built to grind grain.

Castilla-La Mancha is the third-largest region—after Castile y León and Andalusia—in Spain but one of the least densely populated. The regional capital city, Toledo, has a significant architectural and cultural legacy—including Old Town and the Catedral de Toledo—that led to its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986. So, for your next quest, let the windmills of Castilla-La Mancha whisper their timeless tales in your ear.