Modica

Many owners, one palace

foto palazzo salendo da via CalamenzanaPalazzo Tommasi Rosso is located on Corso Francesco Crispi, behind the Cathedral of San Giorgio (St. George), in the ancient district of Francavilla. It is an important testimony to the late Baroque architecture of Modica. Though the palace is named Napolino Tommasi Rosso, the family that commissioned the building was probably the Lorefice family.
In the second half of the 18th century, work began on a majestic two-storey palace with an internal courtyard and a rich, elaborate façade. The façade is symmetrical; the portal in the middle, with two windows on the sides, and three balconies with corbels on the second storey.

porzione del palazzo mascheroni mensoloni del balcone centrale del palazzo
The large portal is enclosed on the left and right by two columns, on which are carved two lion heads and from which hang two elegant cloths. The top is completed by an elegant protruding trabeation with a broken line, typical of Baroque architecture.

zoom colonna del grande portale
colonna del grande portale

The large corbels, five per balcony, are all richly decorated; the two lateral ones were embellished with plant motifs and the middle one features the classic masks of the late Sicilian Baroque palaces. The palace is an elegant building in the heart of the town that tells the story of a bygone era.
dettagli mensoloni

A miniature city

The Maiolica of the staircase

Two illustrious patron saints

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

The senses tell the story of the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feast days

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The church of Carmine

The chocolate of Modica

A feast only for Scicli

A prominent church

Freedom of worship and the role of the Catholic Church in the diffusion of Baroque

The senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

From the contrast of the exterior to the internal jubilation of colours

Some prestigious works

A long reconstruction

A half-Baroque church

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giovanni Battista

A colourful floor

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A majestic and luminous church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giuliano ai Crociferi

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A triumph of colour

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The theatre of taste

The colours of the cathedral

A museum to save a tradition

From International Gothic to present day

Wonderful quick decorations

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Giovanni Evangelista

A small room with a golden entrance

Norman apses

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the church of Santa Maria del Carmelo

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

One city, three sites

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

Some masterpieces

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Searching for colour

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

The Burgos crucifix

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The interior and its masterpieces

Discovering the mother church

A hall for the feasts

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The city of museums

The internal colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A talking palace

An eagle-shaped city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A symbol for the town

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Baroque town by the sea

Prominent façade

The two churches

Church of San Giuliano (St. Julian) on Via dei Crociferi: reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom