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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A square as the heart of the city

The colours of the cathedral

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The city of museums

The interior and its masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Two illustrious patron saints

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

A majestic and luminous church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Discovering the mother church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A symbol for the town

The internal colours

Searching for colour

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The disastrous earthquake

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

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

A half-Baroque church

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, three sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Staircase of Angels

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The theatre of taste

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Some masterpieces

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A new site for a new city

A hall for the feasts

One city, two sites

Feasting in Palazzolo

A city in colour

A museum to save a tradition

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

A feast only for Scicli

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Between white and black

A small room with a golden entrance

The two churches

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A triumph of colour

Norman apses

A colourful floor

A new site for a new church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

The church of Carmine

New roads for Catania

Wonderful quick decorations

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

A prominent church

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Some prestigious works

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Prominent façade

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

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

An eagle-shaped city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

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

The Burgos crucifix

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph