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 senses tell the story of the Badia di Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Searching for colour

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

A city in colour

The city of museums

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A triumph of colour

Many owners, one palace

The theatre of taste

Between white and black

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Prominent façade

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The internal colours

The Staircase of Angels

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

One city, three sites

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The chocolate of Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Burgos crucifix

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A small room with a golden entrance

New roads for Catania

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A colourful floor

A long reconstruction

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

A feast only for Scicli

The interior and its masterpieces

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

From International Gothic to present day

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Some prestigious works

The two churches

An eagle-shaped city

Discovering the mother church

The disastrous earthquake

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feast days

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A half-Baroque church

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

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

A museum to save a tradition

A majestic and luminous church

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

A square as the heart of the city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Baroque town by the sea

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A miniature city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Norman apses

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A talking palace

One city, two sites