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

Searching for colour

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A city in colour

The wall comes to life

One city, two sites

A new site for a new city

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

A talking palace

A triumph of colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A miniature city

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

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

The internal colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

Two illustrious patron saints

The Baroque town by the sea

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Some masterpieces

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The theatre of taste

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A majestic and luminous church

A prominent church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A symbol for the town

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

A square as the heart of the city

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The façade used as a puppet theatre

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Norman apses

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Staircase of Angels

The city of museums

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The church of Carmine

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The colours of the cathedral

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

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A feast only for Scicli

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A long reconstruction

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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

From International Gothic to present day

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

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A half-Baroque church

An eagle-shaped city

The interior and its masterpieces

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A hall for the feasts

The two churches

The disastrous earthquake

Many owners, one palace

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Between white and black

The Maiolica of the staircase

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A museum to save a tradition

Wonderful quick decorations

Feast days

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Discovering the mother church

The chocolate of Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

New roads for Catania

A colourful floor