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

Searching for colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The Staircase of Angels

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

Feast days

A symbol for the town

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A hall for the feasts

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A talking palace

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

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

Some masterpieces

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A colourful floor

The city of museums

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

The two churches

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

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

A half-Baroque church

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The wall comes to life

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A new site for a new church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Discovering the mother church

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new city

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

Some prestigious works

The Maiolica of the staircase

A small room with a golden entrance

The internal colours

The chocolate of Modica

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A majestic and luminous church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A feast only for Scicli

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Many owners, one palace

A city in colour

Prominent façade

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

From International Gothic to present day

Between white and black

One city, two sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

New roads for Catania

A prominent church

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feasting in Palazzolo

A long reconstruction

A miniature city

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The façade used as a puppet theatre

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The colours of the cathedral

The Burgos crucifix

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century