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 role of the religious orders in rebuilding the Val di Noto

The internal colours

Modica, a city with ancient origins

One city, three sites

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The Baroque town by the sea

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Discovering the mother church

A colourful floor

The Staircase of Angels

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A miniature city

Between white and black

Some masterpieces

A symbol for the town

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Burgos crucifix

A square as the heart of the city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A city in colour

The interior and its masterpieces

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Two illustrious patron saints

A triumph of colour

A feast only for Scicli

Prominent façade

A long reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A small room with a golden entrance

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The colours of the cathedral

The Maiolica of the staircase

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Wonderful quick decorations

The chocolate of Modica

Norman apses

A half-Baroque church

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

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

A new site for a new city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A hall for the feasts

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

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A prominent church

A majestic and luminous church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

One city, two sites

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A talking palace

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

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Searching for colour

From International Gothic to present day

A museum to save a tradition

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

The wall comes to life

The two churches

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Many owners, one palace

A new site for a new church

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

The theatre of taste

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

New roads for Catania

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

Some prestigious works

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The disastrous earthquake

Feast days

A Nobel Prize in Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca