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

A feast only for Scicli

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

The Staircase of Angels

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

Some prestigious works

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A talking palace

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A square as the heart of the city

The city of museums

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Some masterpieces

A new site for a new church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Many owners, one palace

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Prominent façade

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A hall for the feasts

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The colours of the cathedral

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

The wall comes to life

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A miniature city

Feast days

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Burgos crucifix

A long reconstruction

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

One city, two sites

A majestic and luminous church

A triumph of colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The internal colours

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

An eagle-shaped city

Two illustrious patron saints

The chocolate of Modica

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The church of Carmine

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A museum to save a tradition

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

One city, three sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A prominent church

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

The disastrous earthquake

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A half-Baroque church

The interior and its masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Between white and black

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Searching for colour

A symbol for the town

The Baroque town by the sea

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Discovering the mother church

A city in colour

St. Sebastian, so much work!