The Town Of Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real is a Spanish town of 69,000 inhabitants, situated in the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha. Ciudad Real was founded by King Alfonso X the Wise in the thirteenth century.
The main city of La Mancha had the most splendid period in the sixteenth century, when major government offices were planted, they built new buildings and, in addition to agriculture, they installed a few small industries of lace and leather jackets. Agriculture activities found here are viticulture, livestock farming and dairy production.
In recent years, there has been considerable development in services and, especially, in transportation. Ciudad Real in fact has an intermediate stage of high-speed train that links Madrid to Cordoba and Seville (AVE) and, connects the bullet train, AVE station to a large new private airport (operational in late 2007) named after Don Quixote for scheduled international and national passengers and goods.
Ciudad Real, in 1691, was named capital of the province of La Mancha, a title which it lost in favor of Almagro and regained only in 1933. The main monuments are the Catedral de Nuestra Senora del Pradodi late Gothic, the ‘Iglesia de Santiago of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.
There is Museo Lopez Villaseñor, a museum dedicated to the works of this painter and Spanish painting and the Don Quixote Museum which exhibits works of art related to the character of Cervantes and a library of works dedicated to him.
The provincial museum of an archaeological Real de Ciutad with a section of Entomology and some works by local artists, the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, housed in the Palacio Episcopal are other places of interest.
The Conservatory of Music is housed in the Casino of the nineteenth century and is situated near the Teratro Municipality of Quijano. As in all cities of Spain, Real Ciutad also has a rich calendar of festivals: the celebrations and festivities of Holy Week have been declared of tourist interest.
The celebration of the Pilgrimage to the hermit of Alarcos, a medieval town with a castle and historic town famous for the defeat suffered by the troops here in Castile in the battle with the Almohads in 1196 is also an attraction. The most famous festival takes place on July 31 ay the Pandorga from across the province when the villagers dress in traditional local costumes to offer flowers to the statue of the Madonna Del Prado in the Cathedral.