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 character of Badia Sant’Agata

The Staircase of Angels

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

The internal colours

The façade used as a puppet theatre

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A museum to save a tradition

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

A long reconstruction

Discovering the mother church

Prominent façade

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

Norman apses

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The theatre of taste

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The Maiolica of the staircase

A feast only for Scicli

The city of museums

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

The church of Carmine

A prominent church

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

Searching for colour

A half-Baroque church

A new site for a new city

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

Many owners, one palace

Feasting in Palazzolo

A colourful floor

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

A new site for a new church

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

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

The chocolate of Modica

Connections with other UNESCO sites

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

A hall for the feasts

The colours of the cathedral

Some masterpieces

Between white and black

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

St. Sebastian, so much work!

Wonderful quick decorations

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The wall comes to life

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

A Nobel Prize in Modica

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

The Baroque town by the sea

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

One city, two sites

Feast days

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

The Burgos crucifix

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

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

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

A small room with a golden entrance

An eagle-shaped city

Some prestigious works

A majestic and luminous church

A square as the heart of the city

One city, three sites

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

Modica, a city with ancient origins

From International Gothic to present day

New roads for Catania

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

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

A triumph of colour

A city in colour

The interior and its masterpieces

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

A talking palace

The disastrous earthquake

A symbol for the town

A miniature city

The two churches

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

Two illustrious patron saints

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