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 church of Carmine

A museum to save a tradition

Between white and black

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Prominent façade

Some prestigious works

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

Searching for colour

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

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

Some masterpieces

The interior and its masterpieces

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

Limestone, the colour of harmony

A prominent church

A triumph of colour

The disastrous earthquake

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Many owners, one palace

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

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The Burgos crucifix

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The wall comes to life

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

Norman apses

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

An eagle-shaped city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

A new site for a new city

The Baroque town by the sea

A city in colour

Discovering the mother church

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

New roads for Catania

A colourful floor

A talking palace

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The Maiolica of the staircase

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Wonderful quick decorations

Feast days

A new site for a new church

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The city of museums

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The colours of the cathedral

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

The two churches

A small room with a golden entrance

One city, two sites

Two illustrious patron saints

Feasting in Palazzolo

A symbol for the town

The chocolate of Modica

A square as the heart of the city

A feast only for Scicli

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A hall for the feasts

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

A miniature city

A half-Baroque church

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The theatre of taste

Modica, a city with ancient origins

A long reconstruction

A majestic and luminous church

The Staircase of Angels

The internal colours

One city, three sites

St. Sebastian, so much work!

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom