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 interior and its masterpieces

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new site for a new city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The city of museums

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

From International Gothic to present day

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The chocolate of Modica

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

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The internal colours

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A majestic and luminous church

New roads for Catania

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Burgos crucifix

A city in colour

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Searching for colour

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The Staircase of Angels

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A feast only for Scicli

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

A prominent church

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Prominent façade

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

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

A new site for a new church

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A hall for the feasts

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The wall comes to life

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A miniature city

Between white and black

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Discovering the mother church

Some prestigious works

A talking palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

A museum to save a tradition

The Baroque town by the sea

A symbol for the town

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A triumph of colour

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Many owners, one palace

The two churches

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The theatre of taste

The colours of the cathedral

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Two illustrious patron saints

A half-Baroque church

One city, two sites

Feast days

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 San Giovanni Evangelista

One city, three sites

The church of Carmine

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A square as the heart of the city

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A colourful floor

Some masterpieces

A long reconstruction

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The disastrous earthquake