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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A symbol for the town

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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 theatre of taste

The internal colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

Many owners, one palace

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A new site for a new church

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Staircase of Angels

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The wall comes to life

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

Searching for colour

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A colourful floor

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Between white and black

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Burgos crucifix

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The interior and its masterpieces

A feast only for Scicli

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

The city of museums

Feasting in Palazzolo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From International Gothic to present day

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, three sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Norman apses

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Prominent façade

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

A new site for a new city

A triumph of colour

A city in colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

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

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

A square as the heart of the city

A prominent church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, two sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Maiolica of the staircase

A talking palace

Feast days

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Two illustrious patron saints

A museum to save a tradition

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A majestic and luminous church

The Baroque town by the sea

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

New roads for Catania

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The chocolate of Modica