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 Maiolica of the staircase

Two illustrious patron saints

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A symbol for the town

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A prominent church

Searching for colour

New roads for Catania

A half-Baroque church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A miniature city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A majestic and luminous church

Some masterpieces

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Staircase of Angels

The theatre of taste

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new site for a new church

From International Gothic to present day

A hall for the feasts

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Wonderful quick decorations

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A colourful floor

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The church of Carmine

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Baroque town by the sea

Some prestigious works

One city, three sites

One city, two sites

A triumph of colour

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A new site for a new city

An eagle-shaped city

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

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

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Burgos crucifix

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A square as the heart of the city

A small room with a golden entrance

Between white and black

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Prominent façade

The two churches

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A museum to save a tradition

A long reconstruction

The interior and its masterpieces

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

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

A feast only for Scicli

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

Many owners, one palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The internal colours

Discovering the mother church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The chocolate of Modica

The disastrous earthquake

A city in colour

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A talking palace

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Feast days