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

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A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

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Prominent façade

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A talking palace

Some prestigious works

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The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

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Searching for colour

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The Burgos crucifix

The chocolate of Modica

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A Nobel Prize in Modica

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The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A triumph of colour

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The Staircase of Angels

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The theatre of taste

Two illustrious patron saints

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The colours of the cathedral

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A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Connections with other UNESCO sites

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Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Some masterpieces

A symbol for the town

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From International Gothic to present day

The Maiolica of the staircase

A colourful floor

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A miniature city

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Norman apses

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The internal colours

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The church of Carmine

The two churches

A long reconstruction

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Feast days

The façade used as a puppet theatre

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A city in colour

A half-Baroque church

The disastrous earthquake

A feast only for Scicli

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public