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 Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A new site for a new church

A long reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

New roads for Catania

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A feast only for Scicli

Discovering the mother church

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The city of museums

A colourful floor

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Maiolica of the staircase

A square as the heart of the city

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

One city, two sites

A symbol for the town

From International Gothic to present day

A majestic and luminous church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A prominent church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Feasting in Palazzolo

A hall for the feasts

Some prestigious works

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A miniature city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Some masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Prominent façade

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A triumph of colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The interior and its masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

A new site for a new city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The theatre of taste

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The wall comes to life

A museum to save a tradition

The two churches

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Searching for colour

The internal colours

The disastrous earthquake

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A talking palace

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The colours of the cathedral

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

Norman apses

Between white and black

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A city in colour

Feast days

An eagle-shaped city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, three sites

A half-Baroque church