Modica

The chocolate of Modica

A visit to Modica means a visit to its churches, walks along Via Umberto and tasting chocolate . Cioccolato di ModicaCocoa has very ancient and not very Sicilian origins. The first people to work the seeds were the Aztecs in distant Central America. It was later in the 16th century that the Spaniards brought the tasty seeds to the County of Modica . What makes Modica’s chocolate unique is its special cold processing, which gives it a grainy and irregular appearance. The first flavours to be added were vanilla and cinnamon, and over the centuries new ones were experimented with. Over the years the techniques were changed and refined, but the master chocolatiers of Modica did not want to modify the original recipe or process in any way.
This means that we can still taste the ancient flavours of an ancient tradition today. In 2003 the city’s twenty producers formed the Modica Chocolate Consortium in the aim of protecting and defining the processing and production techniques.

A miniature city

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

The wall comes to life

A new site for a new church

The city of museums

The theatre of taste

Some prestigious works

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

From International Gothic to present day

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A triumph of colour

A new site for a new city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A city in colour

Prominent façade

A half-Baroque church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The two churches

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A hall for the feasts

The internal colours

The chocolate of Modica

A talking palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Some masterpieces

A prominent church

A symbol for the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Baroque town by the sea

Norman apses

The disastrous earthquake

One city, three sites

Discovering the mother church

One city, two sites

A square as the heart of the city

The Staircase of Angels

Searching for colour

The church of Carmine

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A long reconstruction

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

New roads for Catania

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Burgos crucifix

A majestic and luminous church

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A small room with a golden entrance

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Two illustrious patron saints

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Between white and black

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The colours of the cathedral

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A feast only for Scicli

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

An eagle-shaped city

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

A museum to save a tradition

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A colourful floor

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins