Consuegra

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Consuegra

Location in Spain

Coordinates: 39°27′43″N 3°36′23″W / 39.46194°N 3.60639°W

Government

• Mayor

Benigno Casas Gómez

Area

• Total

358 km² (138 sq mi)

Elevation

704 m (2,310 ft)

Population (2009)

• Total

10,932

• Density

31/km² (79/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

Website

Consuegra is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. In 2009 the municipality had a population of 10,932 inhabitants. It is 80 km from Ciudad Real and 60 km from Toledo.

The principal economy sector is agriculture. The industry is predominated by textile and wood. The castle and the windmills are Consuegra's most important monuments.

Most Spanish windmills, like those described in Cervantes's Don Quixote, can be found in the community of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain. The best examples of restored Spanish windmills may be found in Consuegra where several mills spike the hill just outside town, giving a spectacular view of the 12th-century castle and of the town. The castle was once a stronghold when Consuegra was the seat and priory of the Knights of San Juan, the Spanish branch of the Knight's Hospitallers of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Windmills are also located in Mota del Cuervo, Tomelloso, and Campo de Criptana.

Consuegra is famous due to its windmills. They became famous in the 16th century, when Don Quixote was first published. The introduction of the windmills was made by "Caballeros Sanjuanistas", who brought these machines that helped millers. These machines used the wind to grind grain (the most common grain is wheat). The windmills were transmitted from fathers to sons. They usually consisted of two rooms or levels. Millers had to carry sacks of grains that could weigh 60 or 70 kilos to the top floor, they rotated the sails of the windmill as the top part of the windmill or dome was movable. They stopped being used at the beginning of the 1980s.

Some of the most important parts of the windmill are:

All of them had names to differentiate one from another:

There were 13 windmills originally, but 12 have been reconstructed.

The original fortress at the site was perhaps built by emperor Trajan, but historical records only recall that a fortress here was initially built by Almanzor. During the Reconquest, in times of Alfonso VIII to the Knights Hospitaller. In 1813 it was destroyed during the Peninsular War.

In 1962 the castle was ceded to the town hall and underwent a period of reconstruction. This received an impulse in 1985 with the creation of the School Workshop, whose activity continue today.

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Wikipedia