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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

One city, two sites

A prominent church

A museum to save a tradition

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

The theatre of taste

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

Between white and black

A triumph of colour

The interior and its masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A majestic and luminous church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The city of museums

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

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

A talking palace

The Burgos crucifix

Feast days

Norman apses

The internal colours

A hall for the feasts

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A city in colour

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

Many owners, one palace

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

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The wall comes to life

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A symbol for the town

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A miniature city

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Searching for colour

The Baroque town by the sea

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Some masterpieces

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The colours of the cathedral

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A square as the heart of the city

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

The church of Carmine

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Two illustrious patron saints

The Maiolica of the staircase

One city, three sites

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new site for a new city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

A new site for a new church

A colourful floor

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A feast only for Scicli