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

A colourful floor

Searching for colour

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Staircase of Angels

A half-Baroque church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A symbol for the town

A hall for the feasts

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A new site for a new city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The Burgos crucifix

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

One city, three sites

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Between white and black

Norman apses

Feast days

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A museum to save a tradition

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The church of Carmine

Discovering the mother church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The wall comes to life

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Some masterpieces

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

An eagle-shaped city

The city of museums

The Maiolica of the staircase

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Two illustrious patron saints

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

A square as the heart of the city

A small room with a golden entrance

A city in colour

A prominent church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A triumph of colour

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The theatre of taste

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Some prestigious works

The colours of the cathedral

St. Sebastian, so much work!

One city, two sites

A feast only for Scicli

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A talking palace

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

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

A long reconstruction

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

From International Gothic to present day

Prominent façade

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new site for a new church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A miniature city

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A majestic and luminous church

Many owners, one palace

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

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