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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A museum to save a tradition

Feast days

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The interior and its masterpieces

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Maiolica of the staircase

The city of museums

Between white and black

Prominent façade

The theatre of taste

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Discovering the mother church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The colours of the cathedral

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

New roads for Catania

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The chocolate of Modica

A colourful floor

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new city

A small room with a golden entrance

A majestic and luminous church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A prominent church

One city, two sites

One city, three sites

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A miniature city

The church of Carmine

A hall for the feasts

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The wall comes to life

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A square as the heart of the city

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

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Norman apses

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

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Many owners, one palace

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A long reconstruction

A talking palace

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Staircase of Angels

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A half-Baroque church

A symbol for the town

The Burgos crucifix

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A new site for a new church

A triumph of colour

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The two churches

From International Gothic to present day

Some masterpieces

The internal colours

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo