Cosenza - San Domenico

The town known as Consentia was first mentioned in connection with the expedition of the Molossian king Alexander I from Epirus to southern Italy around 330 BC. In 204 BC. it came under Roman rule but was heavily influenced by Greek culture.
In 410, Alaric I, king of the Visigoths, is said to have died in Cosenza after the sack of Rome and was buried with his booty in the riverbed of the Busento. The grave has never been found. German poet von Platen wrote the ballad "Das Grab im Busento" about it in 1820.
After the end of the Roman Empire, Cosenza fell to the Byzantines and was then fiercely disputed between the Lombards and Saracens. In the 7th century, it became the seat of a diocese. In the 11th century the city came under the rule of the Normans. Under the Staufers, it was the seat of the Calabrian court. Subsequently, Cosenza fiercely resisted the rule of the Angevins. In 1461 it was conquered by Roberto Orsini, suffering serious damage. From 1500 it was under the control of Spain.

Today it is a thriving city with a population of about 70.000 and not enough parking lots, so we could not really dive into it.

The Church of San Domenico is located on the left bank of the Busento River. It was built between 1441 and 1468 by order of the Sanseverino family for the Dominicans, who had already settled in Cosenza since about 1240.