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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A long reconstruction

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Searching for colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Feast days

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The disastrous earthquake

An eagle-shaped city

The church of Carmine

A museum to save a tradition

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The city of museums

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Wonderful quick decorations

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Norman apses

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A square as the heart of the city

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A prominent church

The wall comes to life

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A city in colour

Prominent façade

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

Some prestigious works

One city, two sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

Discovering the mother church

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The theatre of taste

The internal colours

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The two churches

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A hall for the feasts

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Staircase of Angels

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

From International Gothic to present day

A feast only for Scicli

New roads for Catania

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A new site for a new church

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Feasting in Palazzolo

A symbol for the town

A talking palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

A colourful floor

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A triumph of colour

Two illustrious patron saints

A small room with a golden entrance

The chocolate of Modica

One city, three sites

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

A half-Baroque church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A miniature city

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Many owners, one palace

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library