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

An eagle-shaped city

Feasting in Palazzolo

The theatre of taste

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Many owners, one palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A new site for a new city

A long reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A museum to save a tradition

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A square as the heart of the city

Some prestigious works

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

Wonderful quick decorations

A new site for a new church

A city in colour

A symbol for the town

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

The interior and its masterpieces

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Searching for colour

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A prominent church

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

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A half-Baroque church

A small room with a golden entrance

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

One city, two sites

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A miniature city

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

The wall comes to life

Between white and black

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A majestic and luminous church

A hall for the feasts

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

Feast days

A talking palace

The city of museums

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Two illustrious patron saints

The Maiolica of the staircase

Discovering the mother church

The internal colours

A triumph of colour

From International Gothic to present day

New roads for Catania

The Baroque town by the sea

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Prominent façade

Some masterpieces

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A feast only for Scicli

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

One city, three sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A colourful floor

The disastrous earthquake

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The church of Carmine

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The colours of the cathedral