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

A small room with a golden entrance

A half-Baroque church

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The church of Carmine

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

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

A miniature city

New roads for Catania

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The wall comes to life

A hall for the feasts

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The city of museums

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Some prestigious works

A feast only for Scicli

A symbol for the town

Feast days

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The interior and its masterpieces

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Between white and black

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

A city in colour

A majestic and luminous church

A new site for a new church

One city, two sites

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The theatre of taste

Feasting in Palazzolo

One city, three sites

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

A prominent church

A museum to save a tradition

The Burgos crucifix

The Staircase of Angels

Discovering the mother church

The chocolate of Modica

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Prominent façade

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new city

Limestone, the colour of harmony

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A colourful floor

A triumph of colour

The disastrous earthquake

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

Many owners, one palace

Some masterpieces

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Wonderful quick decorations

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The internal colours

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

From International Gothic to present day

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A talking palace

Norman apses

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The two churches

Searching for colour

The Baroque town by the sea

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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