3 Best Sights in Almagro, Castile–Leon and Castile–La Mancha

For a window into what agrarian life was like in this area in centuries past, pop into this tiny museum presided over by the passionate historian who amassed the antique curiosities on display. The influence of the Central European "Fúcares" families on the area is especially fascinating. A guided tour, in Spanish, takes a little less than an hour and is well worth it.

Appearing almost as it did in 1628 when it was built, this theater has wooden balconies on four sides and the stage at one end of the open patio. During the golden age of Spanish theater—the time of playwrights Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Cervantes, and Lope de Vega—touring actors came from all over Europe to Almagro, once a burgeoning urban center due to its mercury mines and lace industry. Few such theaters stand today. Forgo the tourist-oriented spectacles unless you're thoroughly bilingual or a Spanish theater buff: poor acoustics and archaic Spanish scripts make it difficult to understand what's going on. An international classical theater festival takes place here in July. 

This museum, housed in the ancestral seat of the Calatrava Order of Knights, displays models of the Roman amphitheaters in Mérida (Extremadura) and Sagunto (near Valencia), both still in use, as well as costumes, pictures, and documents relating to the history of Spanish theater. Kids love handling the antique instruments previously used for sound effects during productions.