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

Feast days

One city, two sites

The Baroque town by the sea

Modica, a city with ancient origins

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Between white and black

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A talking palace

A new site for a new city

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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A hall for the feasts

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A symbol for the town

Norman apses

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A square as the heart of the city

A city in colour

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

The colours of the cathedral

The theatre of taste

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Some masterpieces

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

The Staircase of Angels

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

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

The wall comes to life

A triumph of colour

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

An eagle-shaped city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new site for a new church

The Maiolica of the staircase

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The internal colours

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Many owners, one palace

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Searching for colour

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Some prestigious works

A miniature city

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A long reconstruction

St. Sebastian, so much work!

One city, three sites

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

Wonderful quick decorations

From International Gothic to present day

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Feasting in Palazzolo

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A museum to save a tradition

New roads for Catania

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

Two illustrious patron saints

The church of Carmine

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A colourful floor

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

A feast only for Scicli

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Prominent façade

Discovering the mother church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A small room with a golden entrance

A half-Baroque church

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

A majestic and luminous church

The disastrous earthquake