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 prestigious works

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A museum to save a tradition

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

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A miniature city

A hall for the feasts

Prominent façade

The wall comes to life

A colourful floor

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

One city, three sites

Searching for colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

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

A talking palace

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

One city, two sites

Norman apses

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The chocolate of Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A square as the heart of the city

The two churches

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

From International Gothic to present day

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The church of Carmine

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Feast days

A majestic and luminous church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Burgos crucifix

A half-Baroque church

The colours of the cathedral

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Many owners, one palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Some masterpieces

Between white and black

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

A feast only for Scicli

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

New roads for Catania

A city in colour

A symbol for the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A triumph of colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A prominent church

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new church

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A long reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

Feasting in Palazzolo

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

An eagle-shaped city

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

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

The theatre of taste

Discovering the mother church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The internal colours