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

One city, three sites

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The chocolate of Modica

One city, two sites

Some prestigious works

A majestic and luminous church

Many owners, one palace

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A talking palace

The interior and its masterpieces

A new site for a new church

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The theatre of taste

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

An eagle-shaped city

A feast only for Scicli

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

A prominent church

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A hall for the feasts

A long reconstruction

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Two illustrious patron saints

Searching for colour

The disastrous earthquake

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Baroque town by the sea

A small room with a golden entrance

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

The Burgos crucifix

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A museum to save a tradition

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A city in colour

A half-Baroque church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

Between white and black

The church of Carmine

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Feasting in Palazzolo

New roads for Catania

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A miniature city

Some masterpieces

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

The Staircase of Angels

Prominent façade

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The colours of the cathedral

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Feast days

Discovering the mother church

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Norman apses

A triumph of colour

The Maiolica of the staircase

The wall comes to life

A new site for a new city

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A symbol for the town

The internal colours

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The two churches

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A square as the heart of the city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

From International Gothic to present day