Route through La Mancha Toledana
Villages and places of interest on the route
Consuegra
Madridejos
Camuñas
Villafranca de los Caballeros
Miguel Esteban
El Toboso
La Puebla de Almoradiel
Villacañas
This itinerary starts and ends in the same region, a delimitation that encompasses a characteristic, practically flat territory that is dotted with numerous lagoon complexes unique in the province of Toledo, where migratory birds find a place of rest and peace during their migratory transit. A large place with a characteristic culture and idiosyncrasy that sets it apart from the rest of the province while maintaining links with the rest of the comarcas. La Mancha is not only nature but also culture, history, tradition and literature. A region where the quixotic and Cervantine style is present in several of its municipalities and where the visitor can easily recreate many of the adventures of Don Quixote of La Mancha.
A region with a D.O. in its gastronomy from typical dishes of yesteryear, municipalities with a great historical legacy that has reached our days and whose events have marked the history of our province and our country. A region that has numerous festivals of tourist interest that the traveller will discover through this proposal.
The route begins in the picturesque and quixotic town of Consuegra where the imposing Calderico hill boasts 12 windmills and the castle. To walk through its streets and squares is to discover typical La Mancha architecture with reminiscences of the Roman period, where the visitor will find spaces such as the Plaza de España, the archaeological museum, the Casa de la Tercia, its religious heritage and its important recently restored Roman dam. Savouring its crafts and its festivals of regional tourist interest, such as the Medieval Battle of Consuegra, where the son of El Cid Campeador died, will not leave any traveller indifferent. Next to this village we come across the neighbouring town of MadridejosThe municipality has a large natural area to the south of the municipality, where through the nature classroom and different hiking routes such as the PR-TO 11 route, you can discover the Mediterranean undergrowth of the mountain range of this town. We must not forget the town centre, where the visitor can discover places with the flavour of yesteryear, such as the silos, old cave houses dug out of the rock, windmills and the well-known Saffron Museum, where you can learn in detail about this spice with D.O., known as “the red gold of La Mancha”.
This proposal leads us to the town of Camuñas where, in addition to its historical and cultural heritage, this town is known worldwide for its Festival of National Tourist Interest, the Corpus Christi of Camuñas. In it the Pecados y Danzantes mark the compas of this religious festival from a totally different point of view, a festival that takes on a symbolic meaning of the autos sacramentales and dramatic works of the Golden Age, with the peculiarity that the whole performance is carried out without words. The journey then takes us to Villafranca de los CaballerosIn the municipality where its lagoons welcome visitors to enjoy a pleasant swim in summer and to enter these natural environments of great scenic value to contemplate at different times of the year both the native fauna and the different migratory birds. The cultural character of the municipalities of this region means that its idiosyncrasy offers us various ethnographic festivals of Tourist Interest, in this case regional, such as the Fiesta de Ánimas and Carnival of Villafranca, celebrations of special relevance that mark the special character of the villages of La Mancha.
From the lagunas villafranqueras the itinerary crosses the plains of this region to arrive at Miguel Esteban and its recreational and nature area, known as Los Charcones, a lagoon complex of special relevance where visitors can learn more about the ecological value and the wealth of flora and fauna of these wetlands. As well as being able to observe such striking migratory birds as flamingos and other types of birds, the traveller cannot fail to take a stroll through the streets of its historic centre to observe its popular architecture of large whitewashed farmhouses and its important religious heritage.
The route continues its itinerary to another of the most representative municipalities in the novel by Miguel de Cervantes, El Tobosowhere the traveller can visit many of Don Quixote’s scenes, such as the House-Museum of Dulcinea, the Cervantes museum, the parish church, the convent of Las Trinitarias and the historic quarter, which conserves its medieval flavour. An opportunity for visitors to delve into this great literary work by Cervantes and be transported back to the 17th century by the hand of such well-known characters as the “Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote”, his squire “Sancho Panza” or his fiancée “Dulcinea del Toboso”.
Finally, the route heads towards the locality of La Puebla de Almoradiel which welcomes travellers not only to show them its religious heritage spread throughout the town centre or its natural spaces around the river Cigüela where visitors can enjoy the PR-TO 28 hiking route, but also to offer them an exclusive tourist alternative, astronomical tourism at the La Hita observatory, a national reference in astronomy in our country and which offers visitors various activities to get to know our skies, a booming tourism which is increasingly in demand by the different travellers who pass through our province. Finally, the route takes us to the final stage located in the town of Villacañas, a municipality with a natural environment dotted with lagoons that provide a unique and characteristic wealth of water, fauna and flora in this area. Along with this, a cultural heritage where the silos, those cave houses excavated in the rock so characteristic of this region, which have become an ethnographic element and the backbone of several municipalities in La Mancha, stand out. As a curiosity the visitor can contemplate the museum of the Aunt Sandalia, a museum of naïf art and local popular culture that will surprise any spectator. Therefore, a vast cultural, artistic and popular culture heritage that will thrill any traveller willing to cross this region.
