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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The chocolate of Modica

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

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

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

A symbol for the town

The church of Carmine

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Between white and black

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A square as the heart of the city

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The wall comes to life

The theatre of taste

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The two churches

A long reconstruction

A hall for the feasts

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A new site for a new city

A majestic and luminous church

The colours of the cathedral

A colourful floor

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A Nobel Prize in Modica

One city, three sites

A half-Baroque church

A feast only for Scicli

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Baroque town by the sea

A museum to save a tradition

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A small room with a golden entrance

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

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

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

The city of museums

One city, two sites

Feast days

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The internal colours

Searching for colour

A city in colour

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Maiolica of the staircase

From International Gothic to present day

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Wonderful quick decorations

The Burgos crucifix

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Discovering the mother church

A talking palace

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

A prominent church

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

A new site for a new church