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 kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Prominent façade

The Burgos crucifix

A new site for a new church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A museum to save a tradition

Some prestigious works

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Baroque town by the sea

A long reconstruction

A prominent church

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The interior and its masterpieces

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

Feast days

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

The disastrous earthquake

A majestic and luminous church

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

From International Gothic to present day

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A square as the heart of the city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

St. Sebastian, so much work!

New roads for Catania

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The colours of the cathedral

The internal colours

Between white and black

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The theatre of taste

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Maiolica of the staircase

Norman apses

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

An eagle-shaped city

Two illustrious patron saints

Searching for colour

Some masterpieces

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The two churches

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

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

A talking palace

A colourful floor

A new site for a new city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A half-Baroque church

The chocolate of Modica

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

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

One city, three sites

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

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A miniature city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A triumph of colour

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The city of museums

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The church of Carmine

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

One city, two sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A feast only for Scicli

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town