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 senses tell the Benedictine Monastery and San NicoIò l’Arena

A city in colour

The church of Carmine

Some masterpieces

The façade used as a puppet theatre

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

A new site for a new church

The interior and its masterpieces

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The wall comes to life

One city, three sites

Between white and black

Wonderful quick decorations

A long reconstruction

A talking palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

One city, two sites

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A symbol for the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A majestic and luminous church

Some prestigious works

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Many owners, one palace

Searching for colour

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

The theatre of taste

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Burgos crucifix

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A Nobel Prize in Modica

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A colourful floor

Prominent façade

The colours of the cathedral

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

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

The Staircase of Angels

An eagle-shaped city

A half-Baroque church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A feast only for Scicli

A miniature city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The city of museums

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The chocolate of Modica

The internal colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

A museum to save a tradition

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 staircase of Santa Maria del Monte

New roads for Catania

The disastrous earthquake

A small room with a golden entrance

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A square as the heart of the city

Feast days

Norman apses

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Discovering the mother church

The two churches

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

A new site for a new city

From International Gothic to present day

A hall for the feasts