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

Prominent façade

The disastrous earthquake

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A square as the heart of the city

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new site for a new church

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

A colourful floor

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

New roads for Catania

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

The theatre of taste

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A half-Baroque church

A symbol for the town

A hall for the feasts

One city, two sites

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A miniature city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The interior and its masterpieces

The chocolate of Modica

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A long reconstruction

A prominent church

Two illustrious patron saints

Limestone, the colour of harmony

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A museum to save a tradition

Feasting in Palazzolo

Searching for colour

A new site for a new city

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Many owners, one palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The two churches

The Staircase of Angels

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

A small room with a golden entrance

Discovering the mother church

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Some prestigious works

The church of Carmine

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A triumph of colour

Between white and black

An eagle-shaped city

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Wonderful quick decorations

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

The colours of the cathedral

Some masterpieces

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

The wall comes to life

A city in colour

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Feast days

The city of museums

The internal colours

A feast only for Scicli