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

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Between white and black

Prominent façade

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A feast only for Scicli

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Searching for colour

A half-Baroque church

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A square as the heart of the city

A new site for a new city

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

A long reconstruction

One city, two sites

From International Gothic to present day

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

A hall for the feasts

The Burgos crucifix

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

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

The church of Carmine

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

A miniature city

The Staircase of Angels

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A talking palace

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

Wonderful quick decorations

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feast days

The colours of the cathedral

Two illustrious patron saints

An eagle-shaped city

Some prestigious works

A triumph of colour

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Discovering the mother church

New roads for Catania

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

The Baroque town by the sea

Norman apses

The wall comes to life

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Maiolica of the staircase

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A museum to save a tradition

A symbol for the town

Many owners, one palace

One city, three sites

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

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

The theatre of taste

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The city of museums

The interior and its masterpieces

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A small room with a golden entrance

A colourful floor

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A prominent church

Some masterpieces

A majestic and luminous church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

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

The internal colours