Castile-La Mancha is a large region in central Spain, surrounding Madrid from the south and east. It is known primarily as a place of action of the novel Don Quixote and every year thousands of tourists come here to admire the famous windmills. The capital of the region is the historic city of Toledo.
The area of the entire community is agricultural and industrial. Vines, grains, olives and saffron are grown here, while coal, iron and copper mining are well developed. It is a highlands, with little rainfall, and the landscape is very harsh away from the rivers.
Castile-La Mancha is often visited by tourists due to the proximity of Madrid and interesting monuments. The capital of the region, Toledo is a city inhabited by Christians, Jews and Moors in the past. His Old Town with preserved churches, synagogues, a mosque and places related to the work of El Greco is on the UNESCO list.
The province is also known as the scene of Cervantes' novel Don Quixote. In El Toboso you can see the house of Dulcinea, while near Consuegra and in Campo de Criptana the famous round windmills. The Don Quixote trail runs through Castile, with almost 250 villages.
A beautiful, though poorly known by tourists corner of Castile is the province of Guadalajara with numerous castles and churches from the Middle Ages. The most beautiful can be seen in the village of Atienza and the towns of Molina de Aragón and Jadraque.
