SeñorSpanish.com

This location is on the outskirts of the town of Consuegra in La Mancha, Spain. The molinos de viento, or wind mills, ground the grains that grew in La Mancha. The molinero, or grain grinder, and his family lived in the dwelling and people brought their grains here to be pulverized for use at home. The grinding wheels were driven by the winds moving the blades. The top of the building swivels and the molinero turns the blades into the wind by means of a long pole that hooks to the roof. Molinos were built on hills or precipices to take advantage of the winds blowing off of the flat plains below. These windmills were made famous by Cervantes’ Don Quixote who battled them as the giants his mind pictured them to be in the classic Spanish novel. In the rear is seen the ruins of a castle. The son of El Cid once lived here, said to be the tax collector of this district. He died in the battle of Consuegra. The castle dates from the 1100s when Consuegra was the seat and priory of the Knights of San Juan.

The Spanish Inquisition was a religious tribunal of the Catholic Church in Spain, but acting under the control of the Spanish monarchs, Fernando and Isabel. Before and after the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Moors, the Christian monarchs were pursuing a cleansing of the peninsula of their perceived and real enemies, such as the Moors, the Jews (money lenders to the monarchs), and homosexuals, just to name a few. Although the tribunal was conducted by the Church, the punishment for heresy was carried out by the secular entities, which could range from forced conversion, public shaming, torture, or death. These punishments were accomplished during public ceremonies called, auto de fe, and could last an entire day.

La Vista de Toledo by the Crete-born Spanish painter, El Greco. This painting is circa 1597 and depicts the ancient Spanish town of Toledo. The actual spot where El Greco painted this canvas is marked today with a plaque on the hill on the other side of the Tajo River. A parador has been constructed on the site. The interesting thing to note is that the buildings in this painting can be viewed today much as they were in the 16th century.

Figure 44 is the statue of Cibeles, the Roman goddess of nature. This statue is in the middle of a glorieta, or round-about, that gives motorists a perfect opportunity to circle it and go in any direction they choose. It is east of the Plaza Mayor and on La Calle de Alcalá, which heads toward la Puerta de Alcalá. The statue is placed in front of the huge Post Office building in Madrid. The statue was placed there during the reign of King Carlos III in the 18th century. It is beautifully illuminated at night.

This is the interior of the Mezquita de Córdoba, the great mosque. It was originally a pagan site of the Romans, some 1200 years ago. Its purpose changed over the centuries as different peoples conquered Córdoba and changed it from churches, to a mosque, and then back again. After the city was reconquered from the Moors, the Christians turned it into the Cathedral of Córdoba which it is to this day. Most of this beautiful structure has been of Moorish construction. There were approximately 1000 pillars that held up this massive ceiling, but after the Reconquest, the Christians gutted the center, removing some 112 columns to make room for the cathedral, leaving about 888 columns. The columns represent a forest of trees to the human eye.

Figure 46 is the legendary section of Granada, Spain known as Sacromonte. It is widely known today for the gypsy caves where gitanos granadinos put on their nightly zambra flamenco shows. From the cuevas you can get a spectacular view of la Alhambra. In reality, sacromonte (sacred mountain) refers to an abbey further up on the hill.

Figure 47 is la Tortilla Española, or the Spanish omelette. The Spanish tortilla is an omelette made of eggs, potatoes, and onions usually. It can be eaten most any time of day, and is usually accompanied with olives and vino.

Figure 48 is La Puerta del Sol in Madrid. For all intents and purposes, this is the geographical and social center of Madrid. It is the “gateway of the sun” where the radial road system of Spain begins and radiates outward like the rays of the sun, or the spokes of a wheel. On a sidewalk here in this puerta is located kilómetro cero (kilometer zero), the spot where the Romans built their road system outward. Many of the original Roman roads (some people say 12,000 miles of roads) constructed some 2000 years ago are traveled over to this day by the Spanish people. The geographic center of the Iberian peninsula actually has been re-measured and is situated just south of the outskirts of modern Madrid. La Puerta del Sol is to Madrid what Piccadilly Circus is to London.

Figure 49 is La Sierra de Guadarrama, or the central mountain chain of Spain. Winston Churchill once called Spain “the rock” because of the various mountain systems traversing the Iberian Peninsula in Spain. Spain geographically has a little bit of each type of terrain found on Earth. The development of the Spanish people throughout history was, of course, greatly affected by their separation by mountains. On each side of the mountains, the peoples developed their own culture, customs, and even language. They refer to their geographic location as being their “patria chica” (little fatherland). For example, Spain today may be their mother nation, but Galicia is their “patria chica”.

Figure 50 is the house of El Greco, the Spanish master painter. He was born in Crete and came to Spain in 1576 and lived there until his death in 1614. It was said that he lived in a house of Samuel Levi who was the treasurer of the King of Spain, Pedro El Cruel, but this most likely is not the exact one. Nevertheless, it is probably a house once owned by Levi, and probably similar to the home El Greco lived in, but it is universally agreed that this is not the one.