Ciudad Real, the "Royal City", lies between the rivers Guadiana and Jabalón. It preserves few remains from its glorious and warlike past. Now chief town of its province, it lies in the center of La Mancha, the home of Don Quixote, the "knight of the rueful countenance".
History
In 1252 Alfonso X, the Wise, established the fortress of Villareal on the site of the town of Alarcos, which had been destroyed by the Moors, in order to assert his authority against the over-mighty power of the Order of Calatrava and the Knights Templar in this frontier region facing Moorish territory. In 1420, during the reign of John II, the place was chartered as a town and given its present name.
N 420 continues from Daimiel to Puerto Lápice, where the innkeeper dubbed Don Quixote a knight, and Alcázar de San Juan (alt. 643m/2,110ft), a little town on the railroad from Madrid with an important collection of Roman mosaics in the Museo Arqueológico Fray Juan Cobo, the 13th century church of Santa María, a Railway Museum and a number of the windmills so characteristic of La Mancha.
Address: Alcázar de San Juan Tourist Office, Calle Goya 1, E-13600 Alcazar de San Juan, Spain
Beyond Tomelloso is Argamasilla de Alba, where Cervantes was held prisoner in the Cueva de Medrano and began his famous novel. It is also supposed to be the village in which Don Quixote was born and to which he returned to die. It has a windmill known as the Molino Dulcinea.
8km/5mi beyond Alcázar de San Juan is Campo de Criptana, an attractive village which could have been the scene of Don Quixote's fight with the windmills. In the surrounding hills, the Sierra de Molinos, there are more than 30 windmills, several of them still working. Some of them (e.g. El Quimera and El Pilón) contain small museums.
Windmills at Campo de Criptana.
Address: Campo de Criptana / Sierra de Molinos Tourist Office, Calle Barbero 1, Ciudad Real , Spain
From Ciudad Real N 420 runs northeast to Daimiel, near which Don Quixote encountered the Yanguesian goatherds. The town has a beautiful Plaza Mayor and the remains of an Arab stronghold. To the north lies the Tablas de Damiel National Park.
Address: Daimiel Tourist Office, Plaza de España 1, E-13250 Daimiel, Spain
From N 420, just beyond Campo de Criptana, a minor road runs 15km/ 9mi northeast to the charming village of El Toboso which is also 9km/6mi southeast of Quintanar de la Orden. Here, Don Quixote found his mistress Dulcinea, a peasant's daughter. Visitors are shown her supposed home at the entrance to the village. The Town Hall has a collection of handsome editions of Cervantes' novel in many languages.
Address: El Toboso Tourist Office, Plaza de Juan Carlos I, Toledo , Spain
The old Ermita de Alarcos, 8km/5mi west of Ciudad Real, was built to commemorate the battle of Alarcos, probably fought in this area, in which Alfonso VIII's army was defeated by the Moorish cavalry in 1195.
These terraced lagoons, fed by the Río Guadiana, are well stocked with freshwater fish like barbel and pike. The commonest bird of prey in this marshy region is the marsh harrier.
Address: Lagunas de Ruidera Tourist Office, Ciudad Real , Spain
The return to Ciudad Real is by way of Manzanares (alt. 645m/2115ft), an attractive little town on the Río Azuer which grew up around the castle of Peñas Borras, built after the battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212.
A minor road runs northeast from El Toboso to join N 301. A few kilometers along this road to the right is Mota del Cuervo, a typical La Mancha village in which Sancho Panza's crony Ricote el Monisco lived.
The 14th century Puerta de Toledo is the only relic of Ciudad Real's once mighty walls. The gate, in Mudéjar style. flanked by two square towers, is now a national monument.
Another church in Ciudad Real of high artistic quality is San Pedro (14th-15th C.), with Gothic and Mudéjar doorways. In the Capilla del Sagrario in the south aisle can be seen the fine alabaster tomb of the Coca family.
The massive Gothic Cathedral (1531) is dedicated to the Virgen del Prado, whose image shows her seated on a silver throne. Notable features of the church are the 12th century west doorway, the retablo by Giraldo de Merlo (1616) and a painting by Eugenio Caxés, "The Beheading of St. John the Baptist", in the sacristy. From the tower (17th C.) there are extensive views.
From Mota del Cuervo N 420 leads southwest to Pedro Muñoz, from which a secondary road continues south to Tomelloso. The 16th century parish church has a retablo of the Virgen de la Paz.
Address: Tomelloso Tourist Office, Centro Cultural Posada de los Portales 2 planta, E-13700 Tomelloso, Spain
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Alcazar de San Juan, Spain
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Mota del Cuervo, Ciudad Real
Mota del Cuervo, Ciudad Real
Parque Nacional de las Tablas de Daimiel, Ciudad Real
Campo de Criptana, Ciudad Real
