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

Feast days

A miniature city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The church of Carmine

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

An eagle-shaped city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new site for a new church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Searching for colour

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Norman apses

Two illustrious patron saints

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Discovering the mother church

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A colourful floor

A feast only for Scicli

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The disastrous earthquake

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Wonderful quick decorations

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

From International Gothic to present day

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

One city, two sites

The Burgos crucifix

The Baroque town by the sea

A hall for the feasts

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

The wall comes to life

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A city in colour

One city, three sites

A symbol for the town

A prominent church

The internal colours

The chocolate of Modica

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Some prestigious works

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Maiolica of the staircase

The two churches

New roads for Catania

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The theatre of taste

A square as the heart of the city

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A majestic and luminous church

A talking palace

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Between white and black

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A long reconstruction

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

Some masterpieces

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A museum to save a tradition

The colours of the cathedral

A half-Baroque church