Cosenza (; local dialect: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city in

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

has a population of approximately 70,000; the

urban area An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities ...

counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the

Province of Cosenza The province of Cosenza ( it, provincia di Cosenza) is a province in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 '' comuni'', listed at list of communes of the Province of Cosenza. The province o ...

, which has a population of more than 700,000. The demonym of Cosenza in English is Cosentian. The ancient town is the seat of the

Cosentian Academy The Accademia Cosentina ("Cosentian Academy" or "Telesian Academy" in English) is still an Italian ''accademia'' or learned society in Cosenza, Italy. It was founded in 1511–12 by Aulo Giano Parrasio and has a long and complex history, with s ...

, one of the oldest academies of philosophical and literary studies in Italy and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. To this day, the city remains a cultural hub, with museums, monuments, theatres, libraries, and the University of Calabria.

Geography and climate

Located at the confluence of two ancient rivers, the

Busento The Busento ( la, Bucentius) is a left tributary of the Crati river, which flows about in Calabria, southern Italy, from the Apennines to the Ionian Sea. The Busento joins the Crati in the center of Cosenza. The legend of Alaric and his buria ...

and the

Crati The Crati is a river in Calabria, southern Italy. It is the largest river of Calabria and the third largest river of southern Italy after the Volturno and the Sele. In classical antiquity it was known as the Crathis or Crater ( Greek: ). Ge ...

, Cosenza stands 238 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance ( height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. Th ...

in a valley between the Sila plateau and the coastal range of mountains. The old town, overshadowed by its Swabian castle, descends to the river Crati. The modern city lies to the north, beyond the Busento, on level ground. Almost completely surrounded by mountains, Cosenza is subject to a microclimate scarcely influenced by the effects of the Mediterranean Sea. It experiences cold winters and hot summers.

History

Origins

The ancient Consentia ( grc, Κωσεντία), capital of the Italic tribe of the

Bruttii The Bruttians (alternative spelling, Brettii) ( la, Bruttii) were an ancient Italic people. They inhabited the southern extremity of Italy, from the frontiers of Lucania to the Sicilian Straits and the promontory of Leucopetra. This roughly corr ...

, was a bulwark of the

Italic people The Italic peoples were an ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of Italic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family. The Italic peoples are descended from the Indo-European speaking peoples who inhabited Italy from at leas ...

against the Hellenic influences of the Ionian colonies. It was in this province that the

Battle of Pandosia The Battle of Pandosia was fought in 331 BC between a Greek force led by Alexander I of Epirus against the Lucanians and Bruttians, two southern Italic tribes. The Italic army soundly defeated the invading Greeks and killed Alexander during t ...

was fought, in which a small Italic army composed of Bruttii and

Lucanians The Lucanians ( la, Lucani) were an Italic tribe living in Lucania, in what is now southern Italy, who spoke an Oscan language, a member of the Italic languages. Today, the inhabitants of the Basilicata region are still called Lucani, and so t ...

defeated the uncle of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, who was known as

Alexander of Epirus Alexander I of Epirus ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος Α'; c. 371 BC – 331 BC), also known as Alexander Molossus (), was a king of Epirus (343/2–331 BC) of the Aeacid dynasty.Ellis, J. R., ''Philip II and Macedonian Imperialis ...

. Over the centuries, Cosenza maintained a distinctive character, that marked it out among the cities of the region. Under Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, it became an important stopover on the Roman route

via Popilia __NOTOC__ The Via Popilia is the name of two different ancient Roman roads begun in the consulship of Publius Popilius Laenas. One was in southern Italy and the other was in north-eastern Italy. Road in southern Italy The road in southern Italy ...

, which connected Calabria to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. During the Roman Empire, although merely a '' colonia'', the town benefited from municipal privileges.

Alaric's legendary tomb

In 410 AD,

Alaric I Alaric I (; got, 𐌰𐌻𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃, , "ruler of all"; c. 370 – 410 AD) was the first king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades ...

, king of the

Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is k ...

, sacked the city of Rome and became the first foreign enemy to capture the city in more than 800 years. Alaric amassed a great amount of treasure during his conquest of Rome. According to the Gothic historian

Jordanes Jordanes (), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat widely believed to be of Gothic descent who became a historian later in life. Late in life he wrote two works, one on Roman history ('' Romana'') an ...

,Jordanes, ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (551), taken up by

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, '' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, i ...

, ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', chapter 31. After sacking Rome Alaric headed south with his troops, advancing easily until reaching the area of Cosenza, where he died. No one is certain how this happened: Some believe he contracted a disease that took his life, while others feel that his death came from an attack by enemy forces. In any case, his troops honored their king by burying him in a tomb in Cosenza. His burial place is said to have been at the confluence of the

and Crathis rivers. A horde of slaves were used to divert the water from the Busento, allowing them to dig a tomb large enough for Alaric, his horse, and all of the treasure amassed from his conquests in Rome. Once the tomb was completed, the river was returned to its bed and the tomb covered with water. Then, to ensure that no one would reveal this location to anyone, Alaric's troops killed all of the slaves. In the centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, several towns in the Cosenza province, most notably

Rossano Rossano is a town and ''frazione'' of Corigliano-Rossano in the province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. The city is situated on an eminence from the Gulf of Taranto. The town is known for its marble and alabaster quarries. The town i ...

, refused to acknowledge the new governments of the Ostrogoths. Instead, they used their good fortune of having strong city walls and small Roman garrisons to hold out for centuries as semi-independent enclaves of the still existent

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantino ...

in Italy. For that reason, Cosenza was viewed as

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

territory until the invasion of the Germanic

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

in the 560s.

Norman, Hohenstaufen, and Angevin period

Bitterly disputed between the

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

and the

, the town was destroyed, then rebuilt around 988; only to be ravaged again in the early eleventh century. In the attempt to escape the devastation, the population left the town and sheltered on the surrounding hills where they built some small hamlets (still denominated as, ''casali''). By the first half of the eleventh century, Lombard Calabria became a feudal dukedom of the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

, with Cosenza as the capital. The town soon rebelled against the rule of Roger Guiscard and was recaptured only after a long siege. Subsequently, under the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

rule, the town became the seat of the Court of Calabria (''Curia Generale''). Emperor Frederick II had a particular interest in the town: he promoted construction and economic activities, organising an important annual fair. Subsequently, Cosenza fought bitterly against the Angevin domination, supported by the clergy. While the uprising spread through the valley of the Crathis, the town was involved in the see-sawing fight between Angevins and the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...

. In 1432, King Louis III of Anjou settled in the castle of Cosenza with his wife Margaret of Savoy. When he died untimely, in 1434, he was buried in the cathedral.

Spanish domination

In 1500, in spite of resistance, Cosenza was occupied by the Spanish army led by Captain

Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (1 September 1453 – 2 December 1515) was a Spanish general and statesman who led successful military campaigns during the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars. His military victories and widespread p ...

. During the sixteenth century the town experienced a period of expansion as the seat of the Viceroy of Calabria. At the same time its cultural importance grew thanks to the foundation of the Accademia Cosentina; among its most renowned members were Bernardino Telesio, Aulo Gianni Parrasio, the Martirano brothers,

Antonio Serra Antonio Serra was a late 16th-century Italian philosopher and economist in the mercantilist tradition. Biography Little is known about Serra's life. He was born in Cosenza in the late 16th century (the dates of his birth and death are unknownAle ...

, and others. In 1707, the Austrians succeeded the Spanish in the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

, followed by the Bourbons. After the proclamation in 1799 of the short-lived

Parthenopean Republic The Parthenopean Republic ( it, Repubblica Partenopea, french: République Parthénopéenne) or Neapolitan Republic (''Repubblica Napoletana'') was a short-lived, semi-autonomous republic located within the Kingdom of Naples and supported by the ...

and a vain resistance, the town was finally occupied for the Bourbons by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo's ''Lazzari''. Cardinal Ruffo was native of the province of Cosenza.

Modern age

From 1806 to 1815, Cosentians fought hard against French domination. Cruel suppressions characterised that period and it was a cradle of the

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

secret societies. In 1813, the town saw many rebels executed. The local riots of 1821 and 1837 heralded the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

. They were followed by the uprising of 15 March 1844, which reached its climax with the “noble folly” of the Bandiera Brothers, who were executed together with some of their followers in the Vallone di Rovito in Cosenza. In 1860, some months after the rapid and overwhelmingly heroic deeds of Garibaldi's troops, a plebiscite proclaimed the annexation of Calabria to the new Kingdom of Italy. Statua di Alarico 1

Government

Main sights

Church of San Domenico

Founded in 1448, the Church of San Domenico combines Medieval and Renaissance architectural elements. Its most interesting feature is the rose window defined by 16 little

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...

columns. The wooden portal (1614) is inlaid with floral motifs, figures of saints, and coats of arms. Inside the church are works by the sanfilese painter Antonio Granata, such as the canvas depicting the Madonna of the Rosary between Saints Dominic and Agnese da Montepulciano preserved in the ancient choir used today as a sacristy in the church (late eighteenth century). The high altar is made of polychrome marble (1767). In the transept, there is a ''Deposition'' and a ''San Vincenzo Ferreri'' (late eighteenth century, anonymous). The sacristy is noted for its ribbed vault, a double lancet window with a narrow arch, and a wooden choir installed in 1635.

The Cathedral

The exact origins of the

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as, a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. Monza Cathedral, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definition n ...

are unknown; it was probably built during the first half of the eleventh century. An earthquake destroyed the cathedral on 9 June 1184, and rebuilding was completed by 1222, when the cathedral was consecrated by

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jer ...

. At some point during the first half of the eighteenth century the church was covered by a baroque superstructure that obliterated the original structure and its works of art. In the first half of the nineteenth century the façade was transformed in neo-gothic style, which completely changed its character. At the end of the nineteenth century, Archbishop Camillo Sorgente entrusted restoration work to Pisanti, who recovered the original old arches and the ancient structure of the church. In the 1940s the work was finally completed. The tomb of Isabella of Aragon, wife of king

Philip III of France Philip III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (french: le Hardi), was King of France from 1270 until his death in 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, returned ...

is in the transept. A long aisle links the Duomo to the palace of the archbishop, the ''Palazzo Arcivescovile'', which houses an ''Immacolata'' by

Luca Giordano Luca Giordano (18 October 1634 – 3 January 1705) was an Italian late-Baroque painter and printmaker in etching. Fluent and decorative, he worked successfully in Naples and Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. Earl ...

. One can also see a rare and precious ''Stauroteca'' there. It was a gift from

to the Duomo upon consecration. The work was produced in workshops of the royal goldsmiths, better known as "Tiraz", in a cultural environment blending Arabic, Byzantine, and Western cultural elements.

''Monastero delle Vergini''

The "Convent of the Virgins" stands in via Gaetano Argento. The external part of the main entrance is made of decorated tuff, while the internal part is carved of wood. The convent contains a sixteenth-century painting of the ''Annunciation''. In front of it, is the thirteenth-century ''Madonna del Pilerio'' attributed to Giovanni da Taranto, while on the walls are four other anonymous sixteenth-century paintings: the ''Visitation'', the ''Circumcision'', the ''Adoration of the Shepherds'', and the ''Adoration of the Magi''. In the apse is the altarpiece ''Transit of the Virgin'' (1570). The cymatium houses a painting portraying the ''Coronation of the Virgin'', while at the base of the two columns are paintings of two unidentified saints that are attributed to Michele Curia, the "Master of Montecalvario". The wooden choir dates to the seventeenth century.

''Giostra Vecchia''

In the fifteenth century, at Palazzo Falvo the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

was introduced at Cosenza, in the ''Giostra Vecchia''. Here are located the church and monastery of

Saint Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

. The

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

plan has a nave and two aisles. In the nave stands the impressive high wooden altar built in 1700. Above it is a painting by Daniele Russo representing the ''Perdono d’Assisi ''(1618). The left aisle is home to a wooden seventeenth-century crucifix, the altar of the ''Madonna della Febbre'' and the statue of the ''Madonna with Child'', in marble, dating to the sixteenth century. The sacristy has a painted wooden ceiling, a wooden ''armadio'' representing episodes from the Passion of Christ, and paintings of saints and Franciscan friars. The stone arch is characterized by the painting of St. Francis of Paola, while on the walls are some frescoes dating to the beginning of the fifteenth century.

Hohenstaufen Castle

The ''Castello Svevo'' ("Swabian" or

Castle) was originally built by the Saracens on the ruins of the ancient Rocca Brutia, around the year 1000. The castle was restored by

Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (German: ''Friedrich''; Italian: ''Federico''; Latin: ''Federicus''; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jer ...

, adding the octagonal tower to the original structure, in 1239. According to tradition, his son Henry lived in this castle, as a prisoner at his father's command.

Louis III of Naples Louis III (25 September 1403 – 12 November 1434) was a claimant to the Kingdom of Naples from 1417 to 1426, as well as count of Provence, Forcalquier, Piedmont, and Maine and duke of Anjou from 1417 to 1434. As the heir designate to the throne of ...

and Margaret of Savoy married in the castle and they both settled there in 1432. All signs of the ancient Saracen structure have now disappeared. In the internal cloister, the modifications made by the

Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...

in order to convert it into a prison can also be seen. The entrance-hall is covered by ogival arches with engraved brackets. A wide corridor is dominated by some

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

from the

House of Anjou Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France ** Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou *House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

. They are engraved on the ribbed Hohenstaufen arches.

''Spirito Santo''

The church of ''Sant'Agostino'', also known as the ''Spirito Santo'', was built in 1507 by the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of Christian religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written in about 400 AD by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–1 ...

. The original portal has several inscriptions in Gothic characters. The interior has a series of paintings from the eighteenth century. Further on a narrow street leads to the so-called “Area of the Bandiera Brothers”, the ''Vallone di Rovito''. Here, the insurrectionist patriots of 1844 were executed by a firing squad.

''San Francesco di Paola''

In the Arenella, are the church and monastery of

Saint Francis of Paola Francis of Paola, O.M., (or: Francesco di Paola or Francis the Fire Handler; 27 March 1416 – 2 April 1507) was an Italian mendicant friar and the founder of the Roman Catholic Order of Minims. Unlike the majority of founders of men's religiou ...

(1510). The interior, with a single nave, houses the tomb of Ottavio Cesare Gaeta. On the right wall, are two eighteenth-century paintings: a ''Sacra Famiglia'' and ''Madonna con San Francesco e Sant’Agostino''. On an altar is a wooden statue of Saint Francis of Paola; while on the left side of the nave, on another altar, is a wooden statue of San Michele Arcangelo. The ''Madonna with Child in Glory and Saints Paul and Luke'' (1551) was painted by

Pietro Negroni Pietro Negroni, also called Il Giovane Zingaro (''the young gypsy'') and Lo zingarello di Cosenza (''the little gypsy from Cosenza'')Marisa Reale, Pietro Negroni - Lo zingarello di Cosenza, , FPE Franco Pangallo Editore, 2011 ( – 1565), was a ...

. In the apse, a sixteenth-century triptych made by Cristoforo Faffeo represents the ''Madonna and Child in glory with saints Catherine and Sebastian''. At the back of the altar is a wooden choir built in 1679 by M. Domenico Costanzo da Rogliano. On the wall of the sacristy are remains of frescoes dating back to 1550–1600. On the vault are some pastels representing scenes from the life of the Saint from Paola.

''San Salvatore''

The small church of San Salvatore serves the parish that professes the Byzantine-Albanian faith. Inside the nave are a wooden ceiling, some frescoes of the Apostoli, of the Salvatore, and of the Madonna, as well as a splendid

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...

Open Air Museum

In the modern part of Cosenza, in an area stretching from the pedestrianized Corso Mazzini to Piazza Bilotti, lies the open-air "Museo MAB" (''Museo all'aperto Bilotti''). The museum hosts a wide range of modern art sculptures that stand in the street for residents and tourists. The sculptures were donated to the city by the Italian-American entrepreneur and art collector, Carlo Bilotti. They include ''Saint George and the Dragon'' by

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

, ''Hector and Andromache'' by

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly infl ...

, "the Bronzes" by

Sacha Sosno Alexandre Joseph Sosnowsky (1937 – 3 December 2013), better known by the name Sacha Sosno, was an internationally renowned French sculptor and painter. Working most of the time in Nice, in his last decades Sosno achieved international recognit ...

, ''The Bather'' by

Emilio Greco Emilio Greco (11 October 1913 in Catania, Sicily – 5 April 1995) was an Italian sculptor, engraver, medallist, writer and poet. He is best known for his monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world in museums such as - Tat ...

, ''The Cardinal'' by

Giacomo Manzù Giacomo Manzù, pseudonym of Giacomo Manzoni (22 December 1908 – 17 January 1991), was an Italian sculptor. Biography Manzù was born in Bergamo. His father was a shoemaker. Other than a few evening art classes, he was self-taught in s ...

, and various marble sculptures by Pietro Consagra.

Museums and cultural institutions

* National Gallery - Palazzo Arnone * Civic Archeological Museum * Remembrance Museum * Bilotti Open Air Museum
Museo Storico all'Aperto
* Rendano Theatre * Morelli Theatre * Acquario Theatre *

* University of Calabria * Music Conservatoire * State Archive Library * Civic Library * National Library * District Library * Children's Library * Antonio Guarasci Foundation Library * Calabria Jazz Centre Recordings Archive * Theological Library (Seminario Cosentino) * Cultural and Ethno-Anthropological Heritage Archive

Sports

Cosenza is home to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

football team

Cosenza Calcio Cosenza Calcio S.r.l. is an Italian football club, based in Cosenza, Calabria. Currently the team plays in . Found in 2011 as Nuova Cosenza Calcio as the phoenix club of Cosenza Calcio 1914 S.r.l., the spiritual successor of the original Cosenza ...

Events and festivals

*Fiera di S.Giuseppe - March *Festival delle Invasioni - July *Festa del Cioccolato (Chocolate Festival) - October *''La sagra dell'uva e del vino'' (Wine Festival) in Donnici - October

Notable people

Joachim of Fiore Joachim of Fiore, also known as Joachim of Flora and in Italian Gioacchino da Fiore (c. 1135 – 30 March 1202), was an Italian Christian theologian, Catholic abbot, and the founder of the monastic order of San Giovanni in Fiore. According to th ...

(theologian, c.1135-1202) * Aulo Giano Parrasio (humanist, 1470–1521) * Bernardino Telesio (philosopher, 1509–1588) *

(painter, 1505–1565) *

(economist, late 1500s) * Sertorio Quattromani (philosopher, 1541–1607) * Niccolò Pasquali (musician, 1717/18–1757) * Francis Pasquali (musician, fl.1743–1795) * Francesco Saverio Salfi (writer, 1759–1832) * Nicola Misasi (writer, 1850–1923) * Alfonso Rendano (pianist, 1853–1931) *

Alessandro Longo Alessandro Longo (31 December 1864 – 3 November 1945) was an Italian composer and musicologist. Early life Longo was born in Amantea. After studying at the Naples Conservatory under Beniamino Cesi (and composition under Paolo Serrao), he ...

(composer, 1864–1945) * Pietro Mancini (politician, 1876–1968) *

Fausto Gullo Fausto Gullo (16 June 1887 – 3 September 1974) was an Italian politician. Biography Gullo was born on 16 June 1887 in Catanzaro, where his father, an engineer, had moved for work reasons. He joined the Italian Socialist Party at a very young a ...

(politician, 1887–1974) *

Stefano Rodotà Stefano Rodotà (30 May 1933 – 23 June 2017) was an Italian jurist and politician. Early life Born in 1933 in Cosenza, to a middle-class family of San Benedetto Ullano, he attended Liceo classico Bernardino Telesio in his hometown and later ...

(politician, 1933-2017) * Tony Parisi (wrestler) (professional wrestler, 1941-2000) * Sandra Savaglio (astrophysicist, born 1967) * Maria Perrotta (pianist, born 1974) *

Stefano Fiore Stefano Fiore (; born 17 April 1975) is an Italian Association football, football manager and former player, who played as an attacking midfielder or on the winger (association football), right wing. He was in charge as manager technical area of ...

(footballer, born 1975) *

Maria Perrusi Maria Perrusi (born in Cosenza on 13 September 1991) is an Italian beauty queen and model. She is noted for winning Miss Italia 2009. Career After winning Miss Italia 2009, she was featured in various runway shows, and co-hosted L'anno che ver ...

(Miss Italia 2009)

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Cosenza is twinned with: *

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

, United States, since 1979 *

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

, United States, since 2000 *

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

, Canada, since 2010

Gallery

File:Cosenza-panorama-da-portapiana-al-tramonto.jpg, The Modern City File:Ponte di San Francesco da Paola 1 - Cosenza.jpg, St Francis Bridge File:VILLA RENDANO - Cosenza.jpg, Villa Rendano File:Old town2.jpg, The Old Town File:Old_town_view.jpg, Surrounding Hills File:Piazza tommaso campanella 2 Cosenza.jpg, Piazza Campanella File:Scorcio centro storico Cosenza.jpg, Glimpse of the Old Town File:ARA_DEI_FRATELLI_BANDIERA_Cosenza.jpg, Altar to the Bandiera Brothers File:Complesso monumentale San'Agostino- Cosenza.jpg, St. Augustine Monument File:Museo all' aperto Cosenza centro storico.jpg, Open Air Museum File:BoCs Art Museum - Cosenza.jpg, Interior of the BoCs Art Museum File:Box_art_Cosenza.jpg, Box Art in the Old Town File:TEATRO RENDANO Cosenza.jpg, The Rendano Theatre File:Teatro_di_tradizione_A._Rendano.jpg, Interior of the Rendano Theatre File:Planetario Cosenza.jpg, Planetary File:SKYLINE COSENZA.jpg, Skyscraper File:FONTANA DI GIUGNO 1 COSENZA.JPG, June Fountain File:Statua italia cosenza.jpg, Statue in the Old Gardens File:CHIESA SAN DOMENICO COSENZA.JPG, Church of San Domenico File:COSENZA ANTICA SCORCIO.jpg, The River Busento

References

External links

Cosenza official website
{{Authority control Cities and towns in Calabria