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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Feast days

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

A feast only for Scicli

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A new site for a new church

The wall comes to life

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A triumph of colour

Some masterpieces

The colours of the cathedral

The church of Carmine

New roads for Catania

The disastrous earthquake

Some prestigious works

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

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

A city in colour

The city of museums

Wonderful quick decorations

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The chocolate of Modica

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

Many owners, one palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A colourful floor

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Discovering the mother church

The Maiolica of the staircase

A symbol for the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A square as the heart of the city

A prominent church

One city, two sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Baroque town by the sea

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A museum to save a tradition

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

A talking palace

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

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A miniature city

One city, three sites

A hall for the feasts

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A new site for a new city

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A majestic and luminous church

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Searching for colour

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A small room with a golden entrance

Norman apses

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Between white and black

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The two churches

Feasting in Palazzolo

An eagle-shaped city

Two illustrious patron saints

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A long reconstruction

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The internal colours

A half-Baroque church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Prominent façade