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

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A talking palace

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Discovering the mother church

A museum to save a tradition

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A prominent church

A small room with a golden entrance

The disastrous earthquake

One city, three sites

A new site for a new city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A city in colour

Norman apses

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A half-Baroque church

Two illustrious patron saints

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Maiolica of the staircase

The theatre of taste

New roads for Catania

One city, two sites

A feast only for Scicli

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Feast days

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The internal colours

Wonderful quick decorations

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Prominent façade

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

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

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

A triumph of colour

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

A long reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The interior and its masterpieces

An eagle-shaped city

The wall comes to life

The colours of the cathedral

The Baroque town by the sea

The church of Carmine

A symbol for the town

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A hall for the feasts

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A miniature city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

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

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

Many owners, one palace

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

From International Gothic to present day

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata