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 long reconstruction

A square as the heart of the city

The Maiolica of the staircase

The interior and its masterpieces

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The theatre of taste

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some masterpieces

A new site for a new city

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A new site for a new church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The wall comes to life

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A city in colour

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

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

Feast days

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Wonderful quick decorations

A hall for the feasts

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Two illustrious patron saints

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The disastrous earthquake

A museum to save a tradition

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A half-Baroque church

The church of Carmine

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Staircase of Angels

Many owners, one palace

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

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

The Baroque town by the sea

The Burgos crucifix

Between white and black

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

An eagle-shaped city

The two churches

The internal colours

A majestic and luminous church

A triumph of colour

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The chocolate of Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Norman apses

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

One city, two sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Sebastian, so much work!

From International Gothic to present day

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The colours of the cathedral

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

A prominent church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Some prestigious works

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A feast only for Scicli

A symbol for the town