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

New roads for Catania

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

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

The city of museums

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A feast only for Scicli

Some masterpieces

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Two illustrious patron saints

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

A half-Baroque church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

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

One city, two sites

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The wall comes to life

Norman apses

St. Sebastian, so much work!

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The colours of the cathedral

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

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

A prominent church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

From International Gothic to present day

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

One city, three sites

Feast days

A new site for a new church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A miniature city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A triumph of colour

A square as the heart of the city

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A hall for the feasts

The church of Carmine

A majestic and luminous church

Prominent façade

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A long reconstruction

A colourful floor

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

The two churches

The disastrous earthquake

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Searching for colour

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Discovering the mother church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A museum to save a tradition

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Feasting in Palazzolo

A new site for a new city

Many owners, one palace

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Wonderful quick decorations

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A talking palace

Between white and black

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

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

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The internal colours

The Staircase of Angels

A symbol for the town