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 symbol for the town

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The church of Carmine

Some masterpieces

A museum to save a tradition

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

The wall comes to life

A city in colour

The disastrous earthquake

The city of museums

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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Two illustrious patron saints

A prominent church

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

An eagle-shaped city

A new site for a new church

A new site for a new city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Wonderful quick decorations

Many owners, one palace

Some prestigious works

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

From International Gothic to present day

A feast only for Scicli

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Feast days

Searching for colour

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

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

The two churches

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

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

Discovering the mother church

A colourful floor

Between white and black

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The internal colours

One city, three sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The chocolate of Modica

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Norman apses

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

New roads for Catania

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

A majestic and luminous church

A square as the heart of the city

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

A talking palace

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A small room with a golden entrance

A long reconstruction

The Burgos crucifix

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The colours of the cathedral

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

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

A hall for the feasts

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Maiolica of the staircase

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A Nobel Prize in Modica

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

The Baroque town by the sea

A miniature city

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The interior and its masterpieces

Prominent façade

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

One city, two sites

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A triumph of colour

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)