CAMPO DE CRIPTANA WINDMILLS

In Sierra de los Molinos and Cerro de la Paz rise our “wind giants” guarding our horizon.

In the middle of XVI century rise 34 windmills. Today only rise, between remains, 10 windmills; 3 of them of XVI century and considered national heritage are monuments: SARDINERO, INFANTE and BURLETA.

The rest of windmills are museums of different subjects.

1. Inca Garcilaso: farming museum
2. Cariari: painting museum
3. Quimera: Vicente Hudiobro museum
4. Pilón: Wine museum
5. Burleta ***
6. Lagarto: poetry museum
7. Poyatos: tourism office
8. Culebro: Sara Montiel museum
9. Infanto ***
10. Sardinero ***

** National heritage with machinery.

SARDINERO: A special windmill
After its restoration in 1997, where it was replaced its old machinery, this windmill recovered its capacity to mill. We can see how it mills all the first sunday of month. Other windmills with machinery are BURLETA and INFANTE, but they don´t have capacity to mill.

How are the windmills?
Windmills of Campo de Criptana are a white construction of lime and store, and with a conical wood cover.
The front has small windows which receive the names of the different winds of the region. Opening this windows we could know from which side the wind comes from, positioning the sails correctly thanks to its revolving roof.
Its machinery is complex, thinking in the century of building; it is based in a huge millwheel that, with the wind force and 2 heavy stores, mill the grains. Basically they have 3 floors, the first one is used to mill, in the middle is where the meal falls, and the last one is reserved to sack.