Events 2022

Participation note

I thank the Organization, for the meeting in memory of Father Vantini and his commitment to learning about the history of Nubia.

I took part in the excavation of the Sonqi Tino Church. The mission of Sonqi Tino had a defined program, year by year depending on the progress of work; and numerous Italian experts participated, according to the needs of the program, as described in the text of the present exhibition by dr Tiradritti

Leonetto Tintori, one of the most important Italian restorers of paintings, took part in the recovery of the paintings. With little means, he managed to do an extraordinary job in that area abandoned and devoid of inhabitants.

The long history of Sonqi Tino originates from a basilica plan, similar to the parallel church of which the planimetric layout has remained, on the opposite bank of the Nile. The two basilicas and the nearby Diff, a fortified village, also studied by Vantini, constituted an important residential center and, therefore, an essential reference for the local geographic community.

The transformation of Sonqi Tino in a central plan had, subsequently and for a long time, a monastic function and a sanctuary for pilgrims and for the caravans of goods along the desert. Therefore, the collected archaeological evidence has documented the emblematic importance of Sonqi in the geographical context of Christian Nubia. Thus, they justified the necessary expert presence of Father Vantini and finally, by the Vatican constituted a recognition of the Christian history of Nubia.

Giuseppe Fanfoni