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 Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Norman apses

A new site for a new church

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

A majestic and luminous church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

One city, three sites

Two illustrious patron saints

A symbol for the town

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feast days

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

Some prestigious works

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

New roads for Catania

Many owners, one palace

Searching for colour

The two churches

The disastrous earthquake

Wonderful quick decorations

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

One city, two sites

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

A talking palace

The wall comes to life

A triumph of colour

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A colourful floor

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Burgos crucifix

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The theatre of taste

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A prominent church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A square as the heart of the city

A miniature city

A new site for a new city

A museum to save a tradition

A half-Baroque church

An eagle-shaped city

The Baroque town by the sea

The church of Carmine

From International Gothic to present day

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Some masterpieces

Between white and black

A city in colour

A long reconstruction

Prominent façade

The internal colours

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Staircase of Angels

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Discovering the mother church

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The colours of the cathedral

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The chocolate of Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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