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

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The internal colours

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A museum to save a tradition

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

One city, three sites

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

A colourful floor

Two illustrious patron saints

A new site for a new city

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The wall comes to life

The Baroque town by the sea

A majestic and luminous church

A feast only for Scicli

A triumph of colour

A prominent church

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

The colours of the cathedral

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Some prestigious works

The façade used as a puppet theatre

New roads for Catania

An eagle-shaped city

The Burgos crucifix

A new site for a new church

Feast days

A symbol for the town

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The Staircase of Angels

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The two churches

The disastrous earthquake

The chocolate of Modica

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A hall for the feasts

Discovering the mother church

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

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

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

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A square as the heart of the city

A city in colour

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

One city, two sites

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The church of Carmine

Between white and black

Norman apses

Prominent façade

The theatre of taste

Searching for colour

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Maiolica of the staircase

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A small room with a golden entrance

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

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

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

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

The city of museums

Many owners, one palace

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Some masterpieces

The interior and its masterpieces

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A talking palace

A long reconstruction

Wonderful quick decorations

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A miniature city

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A half-Baroque church

Limestone, the colour of harmony