Man of la Mancha Tour. Somewhere in la Mancha…

The Man of la Mancha Tour. Following the steps of Don Quixote.

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Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember.

I am a devoted fan of Don Quijote and Cervantes.

An amazing thing is happening to me with La Mancha. Surely those who come with me to visit it feel satisfied with what they see and learn in one day. But I, who have gone hundreds of times have the feeling that La Mancha is reluctant to tell me all its secrets at once.

It drops its secrets little by little. In my case, I am not the usual visitor. It has perceived my interest and it is playing with my wish. For me, it’s like nectar that I’m absorbing little by little.

Cervantes in La Mota del Cuervo.

They told me recently that Miguel de Cervantes tells things between the lines in his book Don Quixote. His book begins with … Somewhere in la Mancha, in a place whose name I do not care to remember … He doesn’t say I can’t remember.

And they tell in La Mota del Cuervo that he refers to this village because they didn’t treat him well. There is a great debate about it. Where don Quijote was from?

I heard it once and I was surprised on the debate. La Mancha is very attractive but if someone has put it as a reference in the world that has been Cervantes with his book of Don Quixote,

They say in La Mota that when in don Quijote was with no doubt from la Mota del Cuervo. And they say it with pride following the saying that the important thing is that they talk about you even if it’s bad what they are saying about you. Don Quixote windmill

Arguments about where Don Quijote was from.

The argument they use is varied. On the one hand, they say that Cervantes was a tax collector and therefore frowned upon by the rest of the population.

They also tell me that Cervantes aspired to be an official in the American Indies and that the person who had to decide to accept his candidacy was from La Mota del Cuervo. This man rejected his candidacy for having Jewish origin.

They say in La Mota that for those reasons he spoke badly of a town to which he did not name his book. Even though the inhabitants of La Mota are very proud to be mentioned by Cervantes

What to visit in la Mota del Cuervo?

By the way, La Mota deserves to be visited for different reasons. To visit the Mota del Cuervo windmills, Enjoy the view from them, through the Ethnographic Museum in one of its Molinos and the Pottery Museum in Mota del Cuervo are worth seeing.

Of course, the head of the tourist office is a charm. He has a lot of love, enthusiasm, and knowledge of what La Mota del Cuervo means in the whole of La Mancha

Sancho Panza was the colleague of don Quixote. You can see him in a beautiful sculpture made of iron in the middle of the windmills of La Mota del Cuervo.

Award-winning.

Musical the Man of la Mancha. The Impossible Dream Scene 57th Tony Awards

Belmonte Castle, another wonder of La Mancha.

The Belmonte Castle is just 15 kilometers from La Mota del Cuervo.

The castle of Belmonte surpasses me. That in the middle of La Mancha they have lived in that imposing castle with a difference of 400 years two of the most famous women in the history of Spain such as Juana la Beltraneja .

This woman fought for the throne of Castile with the famous Isabel La Católica, and that 400 years later Eugenie de Montijo is amazing. With that track record and how the castle is well preserved, you begin to excite when visiting it. It is highly recommended to use the headphones in several languages during the visit.

Eugenie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III of France.

As an anecdote, I am surprised that Eugenia de Montijo wanted to marry Duke De Alba (the richest man in Spain at that time) but her mother said no way. Her mother decided that this man was going to marry his sister. So it happened.

He married his sister. But she, neither short nor lazy, decided to move to Paris. There he met Emperor Napoleon III with whom she married. Widowed relatively young and lost his son in South Africa in the war. That is why he returned to Belmonte and his castle. Its descendants are the current owners.

El Cid was filmed in Belmonte Castle.

If you come to La Mancha do not forget to visit the mentioned castle that is in perfect condition. It is in such good condition, that it was used for the filming of the movie El Cid Campeador with Charlton Heston and Sofia Loren. A film of great success internationally.