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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A miniature city

A small room with a golden entrance

The interior and its masterpieces

Prominent façade

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Burgos crucifix

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

From International Gothic to present day

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, two sites

A half-Baroque church

A talking palace

A triumph of colour

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The theatre of taste

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A feast only for Scicli

The church of Carmine

A new site for a new church

Searching for colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The wall comes to life

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The colours of the cathedral

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

The chocolate of Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A long reconstruction

A prominent church

Feast days

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Wonderful quick decorations

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A city in colour

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Two illustrious patron saints

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The city of museums

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Norman apses

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A museum to save a tradition

Between white and black

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new city

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A square as the heart of the city

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

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

The disastrous earthquake

A colourful floor

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

Discovering the mother church

A majestic and luminous church

Some masterpieces

The Staircase of Angels

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

Many owners, one palace

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Feasting in Palazzolo