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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The two churches

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A long reconstruction

A small room with a golden entrance

The interior and its masterpieces

A feast only for Scicli

A museum to save a tradition

The disastrous earthquake

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A square as the heart of the city

The Baroque town by the sea

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Some masterpieces

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

Feasting in Palazzolo

The internal colours

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

A colourful floor

One city, three sites

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

An eagle-shaped city

The Staircase of Angels

Feast days

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A triumph of colour

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

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

Prominent façade

A majestic and luminous church

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

A new site for a new city

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A miniature city

The Burgos crucifix

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Some prestigious works

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Two illustrious patron saints

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A symbol for the town

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Between white and black

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

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

From International Gothic to present day

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A talking palace

The wall comes to life

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A prominent church

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

One city, two sites

The theatre of taste

New roads for Catania

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Many owners, one palace

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The chocolate of Modica