Cosenza: Touristic information

Cosenza
Touristic information about the city, the provinces and localities

Cosenza
Cosenza: Church of San Domenico
Cosenza: Duomo
Cosenza: Corso Telesio
Cosenza: Monastero delle Vergini
Cosenza: Giostra Vecchia
Cosenza: Portapiana
Cosenza: Hohenstaufen Castle
Cosenza: Museums and cultural institutions
Localities in the province

Cosenza

Cosenza is a city in the Calabria region of southern Italy, located at the confluence of the rivers Busento and Crathis. The city core has a decreasing population of about 72,000, whereas the urban area counts almost 200,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the province of Cosenza.
Thanks to its cultural past, the city is also known as the Athens of Calabria. The Cosentian Academy (Accademia Cosentina), for example, was one of the very first academies to be founded in Italy (1511). To this day, Cosenza remains an important artistic and cultural centre with several museums, countless thematic events, numerous libraries, traditional and experimental theatres, and the near-by University of Calabria.
"To call the town picturesque is to use an inadequate word," wrote George Gissing in his 1901 travelogue, By The Ionian Sea. "At every step, from the opening of the main street at the hill foot up to the stern medieval castle crowning its height, one marvels and admires."

Cosenza: Church of San Domenico

Founded in 1448, the church, located at Piazza Tommaso Campanella, combines Renaissance and Medieval features. Its most interesting element is the rose window defined by 16 tufa little columns. The wooden portal (1614) shows intaglio with floreal motifs, figures of saints and coats of arms.
Inside the church are works by the Cosentian A. Granata (late 18th century): Santa Rosa, Santa Caterina, San Ludovico, San Giacinto and San Domenico. The high altar is made of polychrome marble (1767). In the transept, there is a Deposition and a San Vincenzo Ferreri (late 18th century, anonymous). The sacristy is noted for its ribbed vault, a double lancet window with a narrow arch and a wooden choir created in 1635.
The Cappella of San Matteo houses a Madonna della Febbre altarpiece. In the Oratorio del Rosario there is a decorated and carved wooden ceiling (1600). Four paintings in the middle of the oratory represent: Christ and the doctors, Nativity, Death of Mary, and Circumcision; two paintings are placed on each side of the holy arch, with Archangel Gabriel and Annunciation. On the left wall is the Visitation, and between the large windows there are wooden framed frescoes: Natività, Presentazione al Tempio, Christ and doctors, Gesù nell’orto; on the right side of the room: Crucifixion, Resurrection, Trasfiguration, Descent of the Holy Spirit and Assumption. The carved and painted wooden organ on the choir, as well as the pulpit and stalls, date to the 18th century. On both sides of the holy arch there are two wooden statues representing Saint Thomas Aquinas and Beato Enrico Susone. In the two side chapels there is a wooden painting from the late 16th century: Eternal Father and a painting dedicated to Santa Liberata. On the apse wall there is another painting attributed to Granata, depicting the Madonna del Rosario with saints and on the dome a large fresco represents San Domenico in glory with saints.

Cosenza: Duomo

The origins of the Duomo (Cathedral) are unknown; it was probably built in the first half of the 11th century. After an earthquake destroyed the church on 9 June 1184, rebuilding was completed by 1222 when the Duomo was consecrated by Emperor Frederick II. In the first half of the 18th century it was covered by a baroque superstructure which obliterated the original structure and its works of art. In the first half of the nineteenth century the façade was transformed into gothic style, which completely changed its characteristics. At the end of the 19th century century, Archbishop Camillo Sorgente entrusted the 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 interior has a nave, two aisles and eight spans, delimited by some pillars linked by round arches. The first chapel is dedicated to the Madonna del Pilerio who, according to tradition, saved the people of Cosenza from the terrible plague of 1576. The altar is baroque and is made of polychrome marbles. On the left wall of the chapel, is the Marriage of the Virgin, by Gianbattista Santoro. The second chapel has an altarpiece portraying the Madonna delle Grazie (1770). The wooden stalls date back to 18th century.
The sacristy is surrounded by walnut closets built by artisans from Rogliano. In the transept is the tomb of Isabella of Aragon, wife of king Philip III of France. The grave was made in the gothic style by a French artist and is bordered by a gothic trefoil three-lancet window.
In the right aisle, is the sarcophagus of Meleager containing some bones that may have belonged to Henry (VII), son of Frederick II. On the opposite pillar, are some fragments of two frescoes from the 14th century. You can also admire the crucifix, painted in 1400, and the remains of the mosaic floor from the Swabian period.
A long aisle links the Duomo to the Palazzo Arcivescovile, which houses an Immacolata by Luca Giordano. There is also a golden engraved chalice and a golden crown testifying to the art of Neapolitan 18th-century goldsmiths. One can also admire the rare and precious Stauroteca, a gift of the Emperor Frederick II to the Duomo upon consecration. The reliquary cross is made of thin gold leaves and is fixed onto a wooden core decorated by filigree and other patterns. The work belonged to the royal goldsmiths' workshops, better known as “Tiraz”, and was produced in an environment which blended Muslim, Byzantine and Western cultural experiences.

Cosenza: Corso Telesio

The narrow street (previously Corso dei Mercanti) was once the central commercial axis of the old town, and retains a medieval character.
At the end of Corso Telesio there is Piazza XV Marzo, which recalls the insurrectional revolts of 15 March 1844. The statue (1914) by Achille D'Orsi, in the centre of the square, memorializes the philosopher Bernardino Telesio. In the square, also stands the building that houses the Accademia Cosentina, founded by Aulo Giano Parrasio in the early 16th century. The same building houses the Biblioteca Civica, one of the richest libraries in Southern Italy. On the left side of the square, is the Statua della Libertà which marks the entrance of the Villa Vecchia, an ancient garden built in the second half of 19th century by Davide Andreotti.

Cosenza: Monastero delle Vergini

In via Gaetano Argento stands the "Convent of the Virgins". The external part of the main entrance is made of decorated tufa, while the internal part is made of engraved wood. The convent contains a 16th-century painting of the Annunciation. In front of it, is another 13th-century painting attributed to Giovanni da Taranto representing the Madonna del Pilerio, while on the walls are four other anonymous 16th 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, attributed to Michele Curia (better known as "Master of Montecalvario") of two saints of uncertain identity. The wooden choir dates back to 1600.

Cosenza: Giostra Vecchia

After the fifteenth-century Palazzo Falvo begins the heart of Renaissance Cosenza, the so-called Giostra Vecchia. Here are located the Church and Monastery of Saint Francis of Assisi, founded by Blessed Pietro Cathin of Sant’Andrea from Faenza, who was a disciple of St. Francis. The interior, where a Latin cross can be found, 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 same author painted a crucifix found in the cymatium. The left aisle is home to a wooden crucifix from the 17th century, the altar of the Madonna della Febbre and the statue of the Madonna with Child, in marble, dating back to the 16th century. In the sacristy is a painted wooden ceiling, a wooden closet representing episodes from the Passion of Christ and pictures of saints and Franciscan monks. The stone arch is characterized by the painting of St. Francis of Paola, while on the walls are some frescoes dating back to the beginning of the 15th century.
In the apse of the Chapel of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria is the Glory of St. Catherine, painted by Guglielmo Borremans. On the furthest wall is a painting of the Martyrdom of St. Catherine. On both sides of the apse two wooden sculptures represent Santa Agnese and Santa Lucia, while on the side walls are the statues of Santa Caterina from Alessandria and the Madonna delle Salette together with six remarkable paintings on the life of St. Catherine (1705), also by Borremans.

Cosenza: Portapiana

The higher part of the old town going towards the Houhenstaufen castle is called Portapiana (literally "Flat Gate"). In this area you can find the church of the Cappuccinelle. Its interior has one nave aisle, is rich in frescoes dating back to the 16nth and 17th centuries, and a wooden crucifix attributed to a disciple of Frate Umile da Pietralia. There is also a painting representing the Immacolata (1558) made by Pietro Negroni. Going further along the same street you can visit the church of San Giovanni in “Portapiana”, which is distinguished by a remarkable stone portal. The interior of the church contains engraved wooden works of art from the 17th century.
The church of Santa Maria della Sanità was built in 1482, named in 1652, and restored in 1759.

Cosenza: Hohenstaufen Castle

The Castello Svevo (Hohenstaufen Castle) was built by the Saracens on the ruins of the ancient Rocca Brutia, around the year 1000. Frederick II restored it, adding the octagonal tower to the original structure, in 1239. His son Henry lived in this castle, according to tradition, as a prisoner on his father’s command. The signs of the ancient Saracen structure have now disappeared. In the internal cloister, the modifications made by the Bourbons in order to convert it into a prison can also be seen. The entrance-hall is covered by pointed arches with engraved brackets. A wide corridor is dominated by some fleur-de-lis from the Angevin coat of arms which contains these flowers. They are engraved on the ribbed Swabian arches.

Cosenza: Museums and cultural institutions

Accademia Cosentina
Museo Civico Archeologico
Museo delle Rimembranze
Teatro "A. Rendano"
Teatro dell'Acquario - Teatro Stabile d'Innovazione della Calabria
Teatro Morelli
Galleria Nazionale - Palazzo Arnone
Museo all'aperto "Bilotti" - Open air museum (Corso Mazzini - Piazza Bilotti)
Casa delle Culture
Universitá della Calabria - UNICAL University of Calabria, located on a dedicated campus in the suburbs of Cosenza.
Conservatorio di Stato "Stanislao Giacomantonio", located at the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
Biblioteca Civica
Biblioteca Nazionale
Biblioteca dei Ragazzi
Biblioteca dell'Archivio di stato di Cosenza
Biblioteca ecclesiastica SS. Crocifisso
Biblioteca provinciale di Cosenza
Biblioteca arcivescovile del Seminario cosentino
Biblioteca del Conservatorio di musica "Stanislao Giacomoantonio"
Biblioteca del Centro jazz Calabria - Archivio discografico Centro di documentazione sonora
Biblioteca della Fondazione Antonio Guarasci
Biblioteca della Soprintendenza per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico ed Etnoantropologico - PSAE - Palazzo Arnone
Biblioteca del Liceo classico "Bernardino Telesio"

Same informations in this page for Cosenza are based on the site www.wikipedia.org respecting the GNU Free Documentation License.

Cosenza: other to visit

Parco del Pollino
Riviera dei Cedri
Spezzano Albanese Terme