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

Some masterpieces

A symbol for the town

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A prominent church

New roads for Catania

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

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

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

A colourful floor

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A small room with a golden entrance

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Some prestigious works

A talking palace

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The two churches

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The interior and its masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Maiolica of the staircase

The internal colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, two sites

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A majestic and luminous church

The Burgos crucifix

A triumph of colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The city of museums

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Searching for colour

Feast days

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The colours of the cathedral

A square as the heart of the city

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

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new site for a new church

A feast only for Scicli

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of Carmine

The Baroque town by the sea

From International Gothic to present day

An eagle-shaped city

Discovering the mother church

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

A long reconstruction

A new site for a new city

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

A city in colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Staircase of Angels

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

Prominent façade

A museum to save a tradition

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The theatre of taste

The disastrous earthquake

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, three sites

A hall for the feasts

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A miniature city

Norman apses

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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