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

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

Two illustrious patron saints

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

A hall for the feasts

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Prominent façade

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

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A museum to save a tradition

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Many owners, one palace

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A triumph of colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Burgos crucifix

A feast only for Scicli

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A colourful floor

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

The interior and its masterpieces

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A prominent church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Between white and black

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A small room with a golden entrance

Feasting in Palazzolo

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A city in colour

The chocolate of Modica

Some prestigious works

New roads for Catania

A long reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A talking palace

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Wonderful quick decorations

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

The church of Carmine

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

From International Gothic to present day

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

An eagle-shaped city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The internal colours

A miniature city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The colours of the cathedral

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Norman apses

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A symbol for the town

The disastrous earthquake

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

Some masterpieces

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Discovering the mother church

Feast days

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A square as the heart of the city

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

A new site for a new city

The two churches

A majestic and luminous church

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

Searching for colour

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The wall comes to life

A half-Baroque church

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

The Staircase of Angels