Wind power was widely used since ancient times in many applications. The first wind mills appeared in Mesopotamia area. It was probably vertical axis mills similar to those still in operation in that region, common in use during the seventh century AD in Islamic countries of the Middle East.

In Europe, the first top-slewing tower windmill was built in 1105. They spread late, mainly where the orographic conditions of the rivers (slope and flow rate) and the weather did not favor or even hindered the use of water mills. Their system would convert the wind’s kinetic energy into mechanical energy, through the motion given by large blades or vertically mounted glazing to a horizontal axis wheel. They were technologically complex and high performance structures. The mills were used over the centuries in Europe for various uses, such as grinding cereals, pressing olives, water pumping, operation of sawmills, paper mills, dyeing. Starting from 1350 they began to be used by the Dutch for the drainage of the marshes; in the mid-nineteenth century, there were still 9000 in operation.