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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new site for a new city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The interior and its masterpieces

The Maiolica of the staircase

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Burgos crucifix

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The disastrous earthquake

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A hall for the feasts

The theatre of taste

A square as the heart of the city

Some masterpieces

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Between white and black

One city, two sites

One city, three sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A new site for a new church

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

A symbol for the town

The chocolate of Modica

Many owners, one palace

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A miniature city

A majestic and luminous church

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

A prominent church

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

Feast days

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Norman apses

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A colourful floor

A talking palace

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Wonderful quick decorations

The façade used as a puppet theatre

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A small room with a golden entrance

Discovering the mother church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Two illustrious patron saints

The city of museums

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

A triumph of colour

Some prestigious works

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

From International Gothic to present day

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

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

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

The wall comes to life

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Feasting in Palazzolo

Prominent façade

The two churches

A museum to save a tradition

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

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

A half-Baroque church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The church of Carmine

The Staircase of Angels