On October 15 Gibellina will host the ceremony, ten years after the death of the great Italian archeologist.

Valorizing the territory, aiding research, protecting the great archeological legacy of ancient Sicily. Pursuing these goals, ten years ago Donnafugata accepted Giuseppe Nenci‘s invitation to begin collaboration with the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa to help public institutions fund digging on the Rocca di Entellina and bring to light the ancient Elymian city.

In ten years of collaboration the dig and studies have gone ahead in part from financing by the winery and, what’s even more important, quite a number of young researchers in Italy have devoted their studies to ancient Sicilian history. In particular to the Elymian area, thanks to the Nenci Prize, an annual study grant that Donnafugata instituted as a memorial to the great Italian archeologist.

“In addition to being a world-famous archeologist, Giuseppe Nenci was an impassioned communicator of Sicilian archeology and the island’s landscape,” explains José Rallo of Donnafugata. “His enthusiasm was enthralling and contagious. He was the person who suggested enhancing Donnafugata’s link to the Entella fortress and the legendary Elymian people who, right in that area more than 2000 years ago, cultivated vines and made wine.

Today Anthìlia (the Latin name for ancient Entella) is the name of one of our wines best known in the world, ambassador of a territory as old as humankind. Our vineyards are just a few miles from this treasure trove of history and culture, immersed in a fascinating landscape where premium viticulture helps maintain a balance between people and nature”.

The award ceremony for Donnafugata’s “Giuseppe Nenci” Prize will be held on Thursday, October 15 in Gibellina, in the Trapani province, at headquarters of the Orestiadi Foundation during the “International Days of Studies on the Elymian area and Western Sicily in the Mediterranean Context”.

The assessment committee, chaired by Prof. Carmine Ampolo, director of the Laboratory of History, Archeology and Topography of the Ancient World at the Pisan university, awarded the “Giuseppe Nenci” grant to graduate student Simonetta Fiorentino for her degree thesis in Magna Grecia Archeology at Palermo University dealing with “Indigenous Presences in the Inhabitations of Colonial Cities: the Case of Himera”.

Public Relations:

Baldo M. Palermo [email protected] tel. 0039 0923 7242267

Laura Ellwanger [email protected] te. 0039 0923 724258