Cosenza Cathedral

The story

The cathedral stands where an older church once did, dating to the 11th century and almost razed by the earthquake of 1184. Its rebuilding took place under Archbishop Luca Campano, a Cistercian, and the plan bears that order's mark: three sober naves and pointed-arch portals. It was consecrated on 30 January 1222 by the papal legate, Cardinal Nicola di Chiaramonte, in the presence of Frederick II, who according to tradition brought the stauroteca now kept in the Diocesan Museum.

Over the centuries the building has been reworked several times: Baroque additions from the 18th century, then 19th- and 20th-century restorations that brought the medieval structures back to light; it was reconsecrated in 1950. Inside, different stories meet: the Gothic monument to Isabella of Aragon, queen of France; the ancient sarcophagus that received Henry VII, Frederick's rebellious son; the icon of the Madonna del Pilerio, which tradition ties to the plague of 1576. The philosopher Telesio was buried here too.

What to look for

On the façade, count the three pointed-arch portals and the quatrefoil rose windows. Inside, in the chapel of the left nave, is the icon of the Madonna del Pilerio, a nursing Virgin with a red veil over a blue mantle, at an altar by Giuseppe Sanmartino; in the left transept stands the Gothic monument to Isabella of Aragon.