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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A hall for the feasts

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The city of museums

Many owners, one palace

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

A new site for a new city

Between white and black

Wonderful quick decorations

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A new site for a new church

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Maiolica of the staircase

Limestone, the colour of harmony

One city, two sites

The church of Carmine

A square as the heart of the city

Two illustrious patron saints

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A long reconstruction

Some masterpieces

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Burgos crucifix

The disastrous earthquake

A prominent church

A colourful floor

A half-Baroque church

A feast only for Scicli

A small room with a golden entrance

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

Norman apses

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

An eagle-shaped city

New roads for Catania

The wall comes to life

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, three sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Some prestigious works

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The chocolate of Modica

A city in colour

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Staircase of Angels

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The theatre of taste

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A triumph of colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The internal colours

A talking palace

A museum to save a tradition

A miniature city

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A majestic and luminous church

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A symbol for the town

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

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

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

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

Searching for colour

From International Gothic to present day

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Prominent façade

The two churches

Discovering the mother church