Vrgoc was presented with the decoration by Italian Ambassador Adriano Chiodi Cianfarani at a ceremony held at the HNK last Wednesday.
Cianfarani said the decoration was a high civic award whereby the Italian state honoured outstanding contributions, by Italians abroad or foreign nationals, to the promotion of friendship and cooperation.
He said that Vrgoc had been awarded for her outstanding contribution to the development of relations between Italy and Croatia in the field of culture and that the decoration bore witness to the importance of culture, cultural cooperation and cultural diplomacy in international relations.