In early July I spent a weekend with a group of friends at Almagro a beautiful town near Ciudad Real in the La Mancha region and at about two hours by car from Madrid. Almagro is well known for his traditional architecture typical of central-southern Spain, its buildings and main square (Plaza Mayor) from the XVI-XVII century. Almagro was the main seat of the Knight Order of Calatrava, a powerful and important order of the late Reconquista period.
Almagro is also the site of one of the oldest theaters in Spain ("Corral de Comedias"), placed inside the patio of a tavern and famous for the plays performed of the golden age of Spanish literature (Siglo de Oro) major writers between the XVI and XVII centuries. After a long decay, the building was restored in the 50s and in July every year a major international theater festival takes place (which incidentally was the reason of our trip), with classical as well as modern plays are performed.
The town streets, residential houses façades and major buildings (palaces, monasteries, churches...) are in extremely good state and when you walk those streets is like travelling 500 years back. What follow is a selection of the photos I took in two different trips (this year and in 2010), aiming to serve a source of inspiration for those of you (specially from abroad) who like playing wargames in a Spanish context, appropriate for any period from the Napoleonic or Carlists Wars to the Spanish Civil War.
I hope you find it useful and may be inspirational of you are a scrtachbuilder aficionado... whatever the case, enjoy the photos.
The way to Almagro, on the trail of Don Quixote...
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| "Mi señor, que no son gigantes.." |
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| Street in Almagro |
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| "Portada" (Noble house entry) |
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| Plaza Mayor |
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| Close up in Plaza Mayor |
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| Town Hall in Plaza Mayor |
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| Close-up in Plaza Mayor |
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| Street plaque |
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| Street Plaque |
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| Patio in the Calatrava Palace |
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| Monastery |
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| Entry to Corral de Comedias |
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| Inside view of Corral de Comedias |
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| Another view of Corral de Comedias |
Some nice photos and I can see the relevance to those 19th century gamers. Sorry as a Brit, C19th Spain can only mean the Peninsular War. In the fact the first photo is just missing Captain Sharpe! :-)
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