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 Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The two churches

Discovering the mother church

A square as the heart of the city

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A talking palace

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

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Searching for colour

The internal colours

New roads for Catania

A miniature city

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

Between white and black

The Baroque town by the sea

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

An eagle-shaped city

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

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

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

Feasting in Palazzolo

Norman apses

Prominent façade

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

One city, two sites

A new site for a new city

A museum to save a tradition

A symbol for the town

Some prestigious works

One city, three sites

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

Feast days

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new church

Wonderful quick decorations

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The disastrous earthquake

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

A long reconstruction

A colourful floor

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

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

The chocolate of Modica

Limestone, the colour of harmony

Some masterpieces

The Burgos crucifix

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

A triumph of colour

The church of Carmine

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

A small room with a golden entrance

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The wall comes to life

The city of museums

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The theatre of taste

A city in colour

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

A hall for the feasts

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

A feast only for Scicli

Many owners, one palace

The Staircase of Angels

From International Gothic to present day

St. Sebastian, so much work!

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The colours of the cathedral

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Two illustrious patron saints

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

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

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

The Maiolica of the staircase

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

The interior and its masterpieces

A majestic and luminous church

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

A prominent church

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras