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

A majestic and luminous church

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

A talking palace

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The city of museums

A triumph of colour

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Norman apses

The internal colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

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

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

Many owners, one palace

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The church of Carmine

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

A museum to save a tradition

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new site for a new city

A half-Baroque church

Feast days

Two illustrious patron saints

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A colourful floor

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

Prominent façade

Discovering the mother church

A miniature city

A hall for the feasts

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A symbol for the town

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Some prestigious works

New roads for Catania

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Maiolica of the staircase

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A small room with a golden entrance

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new site for a new church

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The interior and its masterpieces

A long reconstruction

The colours of the cathedral

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The two churches

Some masterpieces

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Burgos crucifix

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

One city, three sites

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The theatre of taste

A prominent church

A feast only for Scicli

Wonderful quick decorations

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The wall comes to life

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Searching for colour

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A city in colour

One city, two sites

The Baroque town by the sea