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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A triumph of colour

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

Some masterpieces

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

The colours of the cathedral

The wall comes to life

The two churches

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A colourful floor

Wonderful quick decorations

A square as the heart of the city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The theatre of taste

The internal colours

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A hall for the feasts

A talking palace

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

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Two illustrious patron saints

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A prominent church

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

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

Discovering the mother church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A majestic and luminous church

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

From International Gothic to present day

Some prestigious works

One city, two sites

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Baroque town by the sea

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, three sites

A small room with a golden entrance

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

New roads for Catania

An eagle-shaped city

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

A long reconstruction

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A symbol for the town

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Prominent façade

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The city of museums

A half-Baroque church

Between white and black

Searching for colour

A feast only for Scicli

A miniature city

The disastrous earthquake

The Burgos crucifix

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Norman apses

Feast days

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Many owners, one palace