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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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Between white and black

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A square as the heart of the city

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Searching for colour

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A new site for a new city

The Staircase of Angels

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One city, two sites

Many owners, one palace

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A talking palace

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A city in colour

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

One city, three sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A colourful floor

The chocolate of Modica

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Burgos crucifix

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Discovering the mother church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A small room with a golden entrance

Prominent façade

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A long reconstruction

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A new site for a new church

The colours of the cathedral

A majestic and luminous church

The two churches

Feast days

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A prominent church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A feast only for Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

From International Gothic to present day

The disastrous earthquake

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The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The church of Carmine

The wall comes to life

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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The Maiolica of the staircase

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

The internal colours

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feasting in Palazzolo

A miniature city

Some masterpieces

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A symbol for the town

An eagle-shaped city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Norman apses

Some prestigious works

A triumph of colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?