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 feast only for Scicli

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some prestigious works

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The city of museums

Norman apses

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The colours of the cathedral

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The disastrous earthquake

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A majestic and luminous church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A square as the heart of the city

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A city in colour

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 Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A museum to save a tradition

The Burgos crucifix

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A miniature city

The interior and its masterpieces

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new site for a new church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Prominent façade

A long reconstruction

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The internal colours

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feast days

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A colourful floor

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A prominent church

One city, three sites

New roads for Catania

A half-Baroque church

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

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

A hall for the feasts

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Two illustrious patron saints

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A small room with a golden entrance

Many owners, one palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The wall comes to life

Wonderful quick decorations

The two churches

The façade used as a puppet theatre

An eagle-shaped city

A triumph of colour

Some masterpieces

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

Searching for colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The church of Carmine

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Staircase of Angels

A new site for a new city

One city, two sites

The theatre of taste

From International Gothic to present day

The chocolate of Modica

A symbol for the town

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Between white and black

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Discovering the mother church

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