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 internal colours

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Maiolica of the staircase

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A square as the heart of the city

A small room with a golden entrance

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A triumph of colour

The theatre of taste

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

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

The Burgos crucifix

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

The wall comes to life

Between white and black

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

From International Gothic to present day

One city, two sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

An eagle-shaped city

The Baroque town by the sea

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

One city, three sites

A museum to save a tradition

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

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A feast only for Scicli

Norman apses

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

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A city in colour

Wonderful quick decorations

A talking palace

A colourful floor

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Many owners, one palace

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A hall for the feasts

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Feasting in Palazzolo

The church of Carmine

A long reconstruction

A symbol for the town

A prominent church

The disastrous earthquake

Some masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Discovering the mother church

Two illustrious patron saints

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

New roads for Catania

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Some prestigious works

A new site for a new city

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The colours of the cathedral

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The city of museums

A majestic and luminous church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The two churches

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Searching for colour

The chocolate of Modica

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

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Prominent façade

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new site for a new church