San Donaci is positioned right at the edge of Brindisi province, where the road that connected Lecce to Taranto once passed.
The lack of documentation means we have no certain knowledge of when the city was founded. The most probably theory is that the Greeks, who came to Salento to "lord" it over the locals, gave hospitality to some refugees, most likely the Basilian Monks who were being pursued by the Iconoclasts. The name San Donaci could possibly be a toponym composed by the Indo-European hydronym "San" or "Sand" and the Greek word “Donakeus" which means life in the marshes. In other words, it means water that flows in the place where canes grow, thus the name could mean "water course in the field of canes".