The line of 12 tower mills found at Consuegra, a town in the La Mancha area of Toledo province, are described in the story of Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century. Each of the Consuegra windmills has a unique name taken from the novel, in which Don Quixote de la Mancha mistakes the towers for giants.

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Germany -

Krippendorf in Germany's Thuringia region is known for its ancient wooden post mill, a local landmark and one of the best-preserved windmills of its type in the country.

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USA -

A suitably apt landmark of Holland, a city in Michigan, De Zwaan is the oldest authentic, working Dutch windmill in the United States. It was built in 1761 and brought from the Netherlands in 1964. It opened to the public the following year. The windmill's name is Dutch for "The Swan" or "Graceful Bird."

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Belgium -

Set on the old city ramparts of Bruge, the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium, Sint-Janshuismolen (Sint-Janshuis Mill) is the only one of four windmills overlooking the city where wheat is still ground into flour. The mill dates back to 1770 and is in its original location.

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Australia -

The Lily Dutch design windmill at Amelup in Stirling Range National Park, Western Australia, is one of only a few working windmills of traditional construction on mainland Australia.

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England -

The Clayton Windmills, known locally as Jack and Jill, stand on the South Downs above the village of Clayton, in West Sussex. Both built in 1821, Jill, in the foreground, is in working order and open to the public. Jack, now bereft of sails, serves as a private residence.

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Canada -

The Moulin Fleming is an emblematic Lasalle landmark. A stone windmill built in 1815 by Scottish immigrant William Fleming to an Anglo-Saxon design, the structure is a well-known Quebec visitor attraction.

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Denmark -

Mandø, one of the Danish Wadden Sea islands off the southwest coast of Jutland, is distinguished with a beautifully-renovated windmill that dates back to 1832. It's open to the public during the summer months.

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Estonia -

Angla, a village in the Saaremaa region of Estonia, is known for its collection of five historic windmills, all of which date back to the early 20th century. Of the five, both the Dutch windmill and trestle windmill are open to visitors.

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Bulgaria -

Nesebar, also transcribed as Nessebar, is a popular resort on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. The wooden windmill on the isthmus is one of several historic buildings included as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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France -

Built in 1635, the old windmill at Largny-sur-Automne known as Moulin de Coyolles is one of the oldest in France. It's designed as a tower mill and rises over farmland in the Aisne department of Hauts-de-France, in the north of the country.

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Netherlands -

The outstanding architectural feature of Haarlem is De Adriaan, a traditional Dutch windmill that stands tall over the Spaarne river. What you see today is a faithful reconstruction of the original 1779 structure that was lost to fire in 1932.

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Greece -

The heavily-restored medieval stone windmills set along the pier at Mandraki harbor in Rhodes, Greece, have stood since the days when the island was ruled by the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem.

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Sweden -

The Öland windmills provide the landscape of this Swedish island with its characteristic silhouette. Of the approximately 2,000 mills on the island during the 19th century, only about 355 remain today.

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Netherlands -

Another sensational collection of traditional windmills are those found at Zaanse Schans. Effectively a windmill park, mills grouped here during the 17th century numbered in their hundreds. A few still exist in original condition and can be explored as part of a wider museum visit.

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Ireland -

The small village of Blennerville in County Kerry is the location of the Blennerville windmill. Built in 1800, this is Ireland's only commercially operating windmill. Guided tours are given in the mill, allowing visitors a fascinating glimpse into the traditional manufacturing process.

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England -

Brill, a village in Buckinghamshire, is overlooked by a windmill whose timbers date back to 1685. Brill provides one of the earliest and best-preserved examples of a post mill (the earliest type of European windmill) in the UK.

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USA -

Solvang in California is often dubbed "The Danish Capital of America" for its Nordic veneer and distinctive Danish-themed architecture. The windmill on Alisal Road was built in the 1940s.

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Portugal -

This traditional Portuguese windmill squats near the village of Odeceixe in the Algarve. It's one of dozens found along the country's southwest coast, built to harness the wind whipping off the Atlantic Ocean.

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Wales -

Melin Llynon windmill in Llanddeusant on Anglesey in North Wales is the only completely restored and fully operational mill in Wales. It produces stoneground flour for the local economy.

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Italy -

The centuries-old working salt pans and salt-processing facilities near Marsala in Sicily still feature a collection of old windmills that were once used to power the manufacturing process. One has been completely restored as a museum.

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Germany -

Enjoying a glorious setting on a lake in Bremen's city park, the Am Wall windmill is one of the destination's most iconic landmarks. Dating back to 1898, the windmill is open to visitors and is also home to a noted restaurant.

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Iran -

The Greater Khorasan region of Iran is noted for a unique set of ancient vertical-axis windmills known as asbads. Constructed during the Safavid dynasty, one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran from 1501 to 1736, the windmills take advantage of the notorious bad-e-sad-o-bist-ruz—"wind of 120 days"—which approaches 200 km/h (125 mph). The wooden blades of these windmills turn the grinding stones in a room made of clay.

Sources: (Britannica) (Pella Historical Society and Museums) (Tehran Times)

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The wonderful world of the windmill

May 14 is Windmill Day

13/05/22 | StarsInsider

TRAVEL Structures

The windmill, a device for harnessing the energy of the wind by means of sails mounted on a rotating shaft, has been in use since around 644 CE, developed in Persia to crush grain and pump water. The earliest reference to a windmill in northern Europe dates back to 1115, when English millers employed the use of windmills to grind wheat into flour. In the 1300s, the Dutch built hundreds of windmills to drain water from low-lying grass. By the 1800s, the Dutch had introduced their windmills to the New World. Soon afterwards, these whimsical and iconic structures popped up in many other parts of the globe.

So, where can you admire some of the oldest and most impressive windmills on the planet? Click through and catch the wind with these wonderful windmills.