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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A prominent church

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

An eagle-shaped city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

From International Gothic to present day

The two churches

A museum to save a tradition

A hall for the feasts

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A triumph of colour

A talking palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The church of Carmine

A miniature city

A city in colour

The disastrous earthquake

The chocolate of Modica

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Discovering the mother church

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Burgos crucifix

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Between white and black

Norman apses

The Baroque town by the sea

Some prestigious works

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A feast only for Scicli

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The internal colours

The city of museums

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Two illustrious patron saints

A small room with a golden entrance

Some masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The wall comes to life

New roads for Catania

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Wonderful quick decorations

The Staircase of Angels

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Many owners, one palace

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

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

A colourful floor

The colours of the cathedral

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Prominent façade

A majestic and luminous church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The theatre of taste

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A symbol for the town

A new site for a new city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Searching for colour

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

Feast days

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

The Maiolica of the staircase