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

The church of Carmine

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

Many owners, one palace

The wall comes to life

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A majestic and luminous church

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The façade used as a puppet theatre

An eagle-shaped city

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Two illustrious patron saints

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A feast only for Scicli

The chocolate of Modica

The city of museums

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Burgos crucifix

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

A hall for the feasts

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

The internal colours

The two churches

The theatre of taste

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

A new site for a new city

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Staircase of Angels

From International Gothic to present day

The colours of the cathedral

A city in colour

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

Some prestigious works

One city, three sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A long reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Discovering the mother church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Searching for colour

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A square as the heart of the city

A museum to save a tradition

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A triumph of colour

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Norman apses

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Maiolica of the staircase

A symbol for the town

A prominent church

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feast days

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

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

Prominent façade

One city, two sites

A miniature city

A colourful floor

Some masterpieces

A small room with a golden entrance

Modica, a city with ancient origins

New roads for Catania

The Baroque town by the sea

The disastrous earthquake

Wonderful quick decorations

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new site for a new church

A Nobel Prize in Modica