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 museum to save a tradition

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A hall for the feasts

A city in colour

From International Gothic to present day

A triumph of colour

The interior and its masterpieces

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A talking palace

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

New roads for Catania

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Searching for colour

A small room with a golden entrance

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Staircase of Angels

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

Some prestigious works

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A prominent church

Two illustrious patron saints

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A new site for a new church

A miniature city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The city of museums

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

A long reconstruction

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The chocolate of Modica

Wonderful quick decorations

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A majestic and luminous church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Norman apses

Between white and black

The theatre of taste

A square as the heart of the city

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

One city, three sites

The wall comes to life

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

The two churches

The internal colours

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

The Maiolica of the staircase

A new site for a new city

A feast only for Scicli

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A half-Baroque church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The disastrous earthquake

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

An eagle-shaped city

Some masterpieces

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Prominent façade

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

The Burgos crucifix

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Limestone, the colour of harmony

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

One city, two sites

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Feast days

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The church of Carmine

A colourful floor

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A symbol for the town

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Baroque town by the sea

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