ABSTRACT
The village of Orbananos sits on the south bank of the river Ebro, in the Merindades region of Burgos province, where the Ebro cuts canyons through the limestone of a landscape reminiscent of the Dordogne. The monastery of Hiniestra itself should be associated with the microtoponym San Millan, situated a kilometre south of the village of Hiniestra, from which it is clearly distinguished in the charter BG377. The monastery of San Millan de la Cogolla lies in the Rioja in the hills on the south-western side of the Ebro valley. A good example of a monastery with a range of economic interests is provided by Hiniestra. The detailed study of Hiniestra suggests that by the mid-tenth century monasteries of this kind could have been producing for distribution. In that case timber from the core estate was clearly highly valued; the monastery also accumulated arable plots in different locations within a 2–3 km radius, as well as some vines and orchards.
