The last Spanish mill in the lagoon in Orbetello, one of nine originally built by the Republic of Siena in the 15th century then restored and fitted with sails by the Spanish State of the Presidi kingdom in the 16th. They used used wind and water hydraulic power to grind wheat brought to the mill by small boats into flour for the town’s inhabitants and soldiers.

The State of the Presidi ruled much of the Maremma coastline for almost two centuries from 1557, and many buildings in Orbetello are in a distinctly Spanish style; most notably the Governor’s palace on Piazza Eroe dei due Mondi. The mills, too, were modelled on those found in the province of Castilla-La Mancha in central Spain, which Cervantes wrote about in Don Quixote!