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

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

A triumph of colour

Many owners, one palace

The colours of the cathedral

A new site for a new city

The Maiolica of the staircase

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

One city, two sites

A city in colour

The two churches

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

Discovering the mother church

Searching for colour

From International Gothic to present day

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

The theatre of taste

An eagle-shaped city

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A feast only for Scicli

The Baroque town by the sea

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Between white and black

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

A new site for a new church

The Burgos crucifix

The chocolate of Modica

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

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

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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

A square as the heart of the city

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The internal colours

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A majestic and luminous church

A symbol for the town

New roads for Catania

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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

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

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

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

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The wall comes to life

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A miniature city

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

A small room with a golden entrance

The church of Carmine

The Staircase of Angels

A prominent church

A half-Baroque church

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

The city of museums

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

A colourful floor

A hall for the feasts

Prominent façade

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

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

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The interior and its masterpieces

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Some prestigious works

Two illustrious patron saints

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

Feast days

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

A talking palace

A museum to save a tradition

Feasting in Palazzolo

Norman apses

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

Some masterpieces

A long reconstruction

One city, three sites

Wonderful quick decorations

The disastrous earthquake

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara