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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

Feast days

The disastrous earthquake

An eagle-shaped city

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Discovering the mother church

The city of museums

A small room with a golden entrance

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

A city in colour

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Baroque town by the sea

A half-Baroque church

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The colours of the cathedral

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Norman apses

Wonderful quick decorations

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

New roads for Catania

The chocolate of Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

The theatre of taste

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

One city, three sites

A majestic and luminous church

Searching for colour

Two illustrious patron saints

A colourful floor

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The Burgos crucifix

The wall comes to life

Feasting in Palazzolo

Between white and black

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

Some masterpieces

St. Sebastian, so much work!

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

A long reconstruction

Some prestigious works

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A museum to save a tradition

A miniature city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Prominent façade

One city, two sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A triumph of colour

The two churches

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Maiolica of the staircase

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A feast only for Scicli

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A new site for a new city

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

A symbol for the town

The church of Carmine

A talking palace

The façade used as a puppet theatre

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

A new site for a new church

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

From International Gothic to present day

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The internal colours

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A hall for the feasts

The Staircase of Angels

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A prominent church