La Hiniesta, 7 km from the capital, Zamora, of (Reino de León) currently belongs to the province of the same name in the Comunidad Autónoma de Castilla-León in Spain. Uts population was 364 inhabitants (Census 2004 by INE). Its major attraction is the Iglesia de Santa María, a church that King Sancho IV of Leon ordered built in the honor of the Virgin, who appeared to him in una cacería entre unas hiniestas o retamas, from whence it gets its more frequently-used name, Virgen de la Hiniesta. Among its more famous products are the sheep milk cheese, of exquisite purity, of both natural and artisanal manufacture.
