Every design for Cosenza

Cosenza lies where the Busento flows into the Crati, in a valley closed off by the Catena Costiera to the west and the forested Sila plateau to the east. The Brettii made it their capital and from here held out against the Greek colonies of the Ionian coast until Rome took over; under Augustus it became a stopover on the via Popilia, the road to Sicily. Legend puts the tomb of Alaric, king of the Visigoths, beneath the meeting of its two rivers, sealed with the treasure he carried away from Rome.

Spread across seven hills, the old town made a natural stronghold, and the Castello Normanno-Svevo Cosenza still commands it from above. Below, the city has long been a place of learning: the Cosentian Academy is one of the oldest in Italy, the Museo dei Brettii e degli Enotri and the Galleria Nazionale di Cosenza hold its long story, and the Museo all'Aperto Bilotti puts sculpture out in the open.

Anyone who grew up here remembers foggy winter mornings in the valley and the climb into the old town. The map traces both rivers, and the spot where a king is said to lie.