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 feast only for Scicli

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

A half-Baroque church

The Maiolica of the staircase

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Discovering the mother church

A symbol for the town

The Staircase of Angels

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A long reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Some masterpieces

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

The chocolate of Modica

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A museum to save a tradition

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

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

The disastrous earthquake

The wall comes to life

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

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

One city, three sites

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A new site for a new church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Two illustrious patron saints

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

From International Gothic to present day

The theatre of taste

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A talking palace

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

A new site for a new city

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

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, two sites

Limestone, the colour of harmony

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A miniature city

Between white and black

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A triumph of colour

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Searching for colour

Some prestigious works

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

Wonderful quick decorations

A prominent church

The church of Carmine

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

An eagle-shaped city

The city of museums

New roads for Catania

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Many owners, one palace

The Burgos crucifix

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A hall for the feasts

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A city in colour

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Norman apses

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church