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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A hall for the feasts

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feast days

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

The disastrous earthquake

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

The theatre of taste

From International Gothic to present day

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Searching for colour

A talking palace

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The façade used as a puppet theatre

One city, three sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Staircase of Angels

The colours of the cathedral

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Between white and black

The interior and its masterpieces

A miniature city

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

A new site for a new church

A square as the heart of the city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Discovering the mother church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

Two illustrious patron saints

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A triumph of colour

A city in colour

Prominent façade

Wonderful quick decorations

The Burgos crucifix

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A prominent church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

Some prestigious works

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

The wall comes to life

The chocolate of Modica

One city, two sites

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A long reconstruction

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

Some masterpieces

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

The two churches

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A colourful floor

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

A half-Baroque church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A symbol for the town

A small room with a golden entrance

A museum to save a tradition

The internal colours

A feast only for Scicli

An eagle-shaped city