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

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Many owners, one palace

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The theatre of taste

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

The interior and its masterpieces

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Searching for colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Feast days

A city in colour

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The two churches

The Burgos crucifix

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

One city, two sites

A museum to save a tradition

Two illustrious patron saints

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Prominent façade

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Discovering the mother church

A feast only for Scicli

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

New roads for Catania

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The city of museums

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

From International Gothic to present day

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A triumph of colour

One city, three sites

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The colours of the cathedral

A new site for a new church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A miniature city

The wall comes to life

A square as the heart of the city

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The chocolate of Modica

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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 the Mother Church of San Nicolò and of the Santissimo Salvatore

A prominent church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A half-Baroque church

The Staircase of Angels

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Wonderful quick decorations

Between white and black

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new city

A hall for the feasts

A majestic and luminous church

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

The disastrous earthquake

The Maiolica of the staircase

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A talking palace

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

Some prestigious works

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Some masterpieces

A colourful floor

The internal colours

A long reconstruction