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

A symbol for the town

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Norman apses

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A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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The Burgos crucifix

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The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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A new site for a new church

A new site for a new city

The façade used as a puppet theatre

One city, three sites

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The city of museums

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The colours of the cathedral

A square as the heart of the city

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

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

Many owners, one palace

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Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A majestic and luminous church

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The theatre of taste

A feast only for Scicli

One city, two sites

A long reconstruction

A hall for the feasts

A miniature city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A prominent church

The church of Carmine

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Between white and black

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

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

A museum to save a tradition

A small room with a golden entrance

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A talking palace

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

The Staircase of Angels

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

From International Gothic to present day

The internal colours

The interior and its masterpieces

The Maiolica of the staircase

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The Baroque town by the sea

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Searching for colour

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

An eagle-shaped city

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A colourful floor

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

Some prestigious works

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Some masterpieces

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Prominent façade

The wall comes to life

The disastrous earthquake

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

New roads for Catania

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Two illustrious patron saints

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

Feast days

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto