Modica

The chocolate of Modica

A visit to Modica means a visit to its churches, walks along Via Umberto and tasting chocolate . Cioccolato di ModicaCocoa has very ancient and not very Sicilian origins. The first people to work the seeds were the Aztecs in distant Central America. It was later in the 16th century that the Spaniards brought the tasty seeds to the County of Modica . What makes Modica’s chocolate unique is its special cold processing, which gives it a grainy and irregular appearance. The first flavours to be added were vanilla and cinnamon, and over the centuries new ones were experimented with. Over the years the techniques were changed and refined, but the master chocolatiers of Modica did not want to modify the original recipe or process in any way.
This means that we can still taste the ancient flavours of an ancient tradition today. In 2003 the city’s twenty producers formed the Modica Chocolate Consortium in the aim of protecting and defining the processing and production techniques.

St. Agatha and the giant candelabras

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

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

The Feast of San Giacomo (St. James)

The Baroque town by the sea

San Nicolò l’Arena: an unfinished church

From International Gothic to present day

Garden of Novices and the restorations by Giancarlo De Carlo

The senses tell the story of the Church of Santa Chiara

The senses tell the story of the church of San Giuseppe

One city, two sites

The chocolate of Modica

The church of Carmine

Modica, a city with ancient origins

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

One city, three sites

The Benedictine Monastery, one of the largest in Europe

Between white and black

A city in colour

The senses tell about Palazzo La Rocca

An eagle-shaped city

The character of Badia Sant’Agata

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

Rosario Gagliardi, the maestro of the Val di Noto

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

A colourful floor

The façade used as a puppet theatre

Feasting in Palazzolo

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Sebastiano

The city of museums

The wall comes to life

The Supernatural dimension of the chapel of the Santissimo Sacramento

A half-Baroque church

Wonderful quick decorations

A long reconstruction

A symbol for the town

Militello, the story of an enlightened fiefdom

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

A design by Vincenzo Sinatra

The Infiorata, a feast of colours and flowers

Limestone, the colour of harmony

The senses tell about Palazzo Nicolaci

The theatre of taste

The Staircase of Angels

The colours of the cathedral

A museum to save a tradition

A new site for a new city

A square as the heart of the city

The Maiolica of the staircase

Prominent façade

Palazzo Nicolaci di Villadorata, who is the architect?

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

Some prestigious works

Discovering the mother church

New roads for Catania

A Nobel Prize in Modica

San Benedetto: a treasure reopened to the public

The senses tell the story of the Church of San Benedetto

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

A prominent church

A talking palace

A triumph of colour

The two churches

The cathedral of Sant’Agata: a lengthy reconstruction

Fontana della Ninfa Zizza, public water in the town

Connections with other UNESCO sites

Searching for colour

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

A miniature city

The kitchen, a treasure chest of colours

Some masterpieces

The senses tell the Cathedral of Sant’Agata

A majestic and luminous church

A new entrance for Santa Chiara (St. Claire)

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

St. Sebastian, so much work!

A small room with a golden entrance

The Barresi-Branciforte lords

A feast only for Scicli

Places of knowledge: the Benedictines’ library

Baroque and the loss of equilibrium in the 16th century

The interior and its masterpieces

Norman apses

The Burgos crucifix

Many owners, one palace

The disastrous earthquake

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

The senses tell the story of the Church of the Annunciation

The senses tell about Palazzo Napolino Tommasi Rosso

Two illustrious patron saints

From St. Thomas to St. Joseph

A new site for a new church

A hall for the feasts

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

A new palace for the La Rocca lords

The internal colours

Corbels: a celebration of the Nicolaci family

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

Feast days