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

Wonderful quick decorations

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Feasting in Palazzolo

Feast days

The church of Carmine

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new site for a new church

A colourful floor

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

An eagle-shaped city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Staircase of Angels

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A small room with a golden entrance

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The chocolate of Modica

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Baroque town by the sea

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

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

Prominent façade

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A miniature city

The city of museums

The wall comes to life

New roads for Catania

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The internal colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

From International Gothic to present day

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A hall for the feasts

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Between white and black

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

Discovering the mother church

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The theatre of taste

A city in colour

The disastrous earthquake

The Burgos crucifix

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

A majestic and luminous church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

A talking palace

Norman apses

The Maiolica of the staircase

The façade used as a puppet theatre

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Two illustrious patron saints

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The colours of the cathedral

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

Some masterpieces

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The interior and its masterpieces

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

One city, three sites

A triumph of colour

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Searching for colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

A long reconstruction

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Some prestigious works

A museum to save a tradition

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A feast only for Scicli

A half-Baroque church

One city, two sites

A prominent church

A Nobel Prize in Modica