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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A symbol for the town

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The two churches

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

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

A colourful floor

A triumph of colour

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

From International Gothic to present day

Norman apses

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The theatre of taste

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

One city, two sites

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

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

A long reconstruction

The Staircase of Angels

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Limestone, the colour of harmony

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A half-Baroque church

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The wall comes to life

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The colours of the cathedral

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Discovering the mother church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Baroque town by the sea

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The façade used as a puppet theatre

An eagle-shaped city

Two illustrious patron saints

Wonderful quick decorations

Searching for colour

A hall for the feasts

Prominent façade

A miniature city

A talking palace

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

One city, three sites

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

Between white and black

The chocolate of Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A feast only for Scicli

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The disastrous earthquake

Some masterpieces

A new site for a new city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Feast days

A museum to save a tradition

A square as the heart of the city

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The church of Carmine

The city of museums

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A new site for a new church

A prominent church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The internal colours