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 Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

New roads for Catania

Wonderful quick decorations

A hall for the feasts

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A talking palace

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The internal colours

Some masterpieces

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The theatre of taste

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The church of Carmine

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Many owners, one palace

One city, two sites

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

Norman apses

The Staircase of Angels

A colourful floor

Between white and black

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

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

A museum to save a tradition

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Feast days

A half-Baroque church

One city, three sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The chocolate of Modica

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

Discovering the mother church

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A long reconstruction

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The colours of the cathedral

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A miniature city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

An eagle-shaped city

A feast only for Scicli

A prominent church

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A city in colour

A triumph of colour

A new site for a new church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Burgos crucifix

Prominent façade

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A majestic and luminous church

Some prestigious works

The Baroque town by the sea

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

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

The city of museums

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

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

Searching for colour

A symbol for the town

Feasting in Palazzolo

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A small room with a golden entrance

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The two churches