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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Feasting in Palazzolo

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Feast days

A square as the heart of the city

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

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A hall for the feasts

The theatre of taste

An eagle-shaped city

A half-Baroque church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new city

The colours of the cathedral

A museum to save a tradition

The church of Carmine

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Prominent façade

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Between white and black

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A prominent church

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

New roads for Catania

One city, three sites

One city, two sites

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A city in colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

From International Gothic to present day

The chocolate of Modica

A feast only for Scicli

A triumph of colour

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A miniature city

A long reconstruction

A small room with a golden entrance

Norman apses

A new site for a new church

A colourful floor

Some masterpieces

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A symbol for the town

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The internal colours

Searching for colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Staircase of Angels

Discovering the mother church

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

The Burgos crucifix

The wall comes to life

Some prestigious works

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

The Maiolica of the staircase

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Many owners, one palace

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The two churches