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 kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A prominent church

Feasting in Palazzolo

Feast days

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A miniature city

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Burgos crucifix

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The interior and its masterpieces

Some prestigious works

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A museum to save a tradition

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

A triumph of colour

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Many owners, one palace

A new site for a new church

A feast only for Scicli

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

Discovering the mother church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

New roads for Catania

The internal colours

The theatre of taste

The wall comes to life

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A symbol for the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

Between white and black

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The two churches

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Prominent façade

One city, two sites

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A hall for the feasts

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A city in colour

Some masterpieces

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

The church of Carmine

A square as the heart of the city

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The disastrous earthquake

A new site for a new city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The city of museums

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A long reconstruction

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Wonderful quick decorations

Norman apses

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

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

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A small room with a golden entrance

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Two illustrious patron saints

The façade used as a puppet theatre

From International Gothic to present day

Searching for colour

A talking palace

An eagle-shaped city

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

A half-Baroque church

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Limestone, the colour of harmony

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano