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 façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A miniature city

Some masterpieces

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

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

The city of museums

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

Two illustrious patron saints

A feast only for Scicli

Feast days

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

A new site for a new church

A museum to save a tradition

A symbol for the town

Norman apses

The Baroque town by the sea

One city, two sites

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

A majestic and luminous church

A colourful floor

From International Gothic to present day

Feasting in Palazzolo

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

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

New roads for Catania

A triumph of colour

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Searching for colour

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

Many owners, one palace

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The Maiolica of the staircase

A hall for the feasts

An eagle-shaped city

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

One city, three sites

The colours of the cathedral

Prominent façade

The disastrous earthquake

A square as the heart of the city

The chocolate of Modica

The Staircase of Angels

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

A half-Baroque church

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

A new site for a new city

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A small room with a golden entrance

Some prestigious works

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

A prominent church

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The wall comes to life

The internal colours

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

A talking palace

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

Modica, a city with ancient origins

The church of Carmine

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The two churches

Discovering the mother church

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

Wonderful quick decorations

Between white and black

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

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

A long reconstruction

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

The Burgos crucifix

A city in colour

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The theatre of taste

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

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

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento