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

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

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The wall comes to life

A hall for the feasts

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A small room with a golden entrance

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

Some masterpieces

Norman apses

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The façade used as a puppet theatre

A triumph of colour

The theatre of taste

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The interior and its masterpieces

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

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

Searching for colour

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Burgos crucifix

A symbol for the town

A miniature city

New roads for Catania

From International Gothic to present day

Prominent façade

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

One city, two sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Some prestigious works

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

A square as the heart of the city

A majestic and luminous church

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A museum to save a tradition

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The disastrous earthquake

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The city of museums

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A feast only for Scicli

A new site for a new city

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Feast days

Feasting in Palazzolo

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

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A prominent church

A talking palace

One city, three sites

The Baroque town by the sea

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

A colourful floor

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Wonderful quick decorations

A new site for a new church

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

The colours of the cathedral

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Between white and black

A city in colour

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Two illustrious patron saints

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

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The chocolate of Modica

The two churches

An eagle-shaped city

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

The internal colours

Connections with other UNESCO sites

A half-Baroque church

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

Discovering the mother church

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Maiolica of the staircase