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 talking palace

One city, three sites

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The Burgos crucifix

New roads for Catania

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Wonderful quick decorations

An eagle-shaped city

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

The chocolate of Modica

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

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

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

A colourful floor

The church of Carmine

A small room with a golden entrance

Some masterpieces

Many owners, one palace

Feast days

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A prominent church

From International Gothic to present day

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Between white and black

A half-Baroque church

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

A majestic and luminous church

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A museum to save a tradition

Discovering the mother church

A square as the heart of the city

The interior and its masterpieces

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

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

A new site for a new city

Searching for colour

The wall comes to life

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Feasting in Palazzolo

The Staircase of Angels

The internal colours

Norman apses

A hall for the feasts

One city, two sites

A new site for a new church

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

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

A symbol for the town

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

A long reconstruction

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A feast only for Scicli

The Maiolica of the staircase

A city in colour

The theatre of taste

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

A triumph of colour

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

The colours of the cathedral

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The city of museums

A Nobel Prize in Modica

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Baroque town by the sea

A miniature city

The disastrous earthquake

Prominent façade

The two churches

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Two illustrious patron saints