The modern city is the centre of an urban agglomeration including, among others, the municipality of Rende, where the University of Calabria is located.

Situated at the confluence of two historical rivers, the Busento and the Crati, Cosenza stands 238 m above sea level in a valley between the Sila and the coastal range of mountains.

Almost completely surrounded by mountains, Cosenza is subject to a microclimate scarcely influenced by the effects of the Mediterranean Sea.

According to the historian Jordanes,[5] after sacking Rome Alaric headed south with his troops, advancing easily until reaching the area of Cosenza, where he died.

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.

In the centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, several towns in the province of Cosenza, most notably Rossano, refused to acknowledge the new governments of the Ostrogoths.

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).

Emperor Frederick II had a particular interest in the town: he promoted construction and economic activities, organising an important annual fair.

In 1500, in spite of resistance, Cosenza was occupied by the Spanish army led by Captain Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba.

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, and others.

After the proclamation in 1799 of the short-lived Parthenopean Republic and a vain resistance, the town was finally occupied for the Bourbons by Cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo's Lazzari.

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.

The sacristy is noted for its ribbed vault, a double lancet window with a narrow arch, and a wooden choir installed in 1635.

The exact origins of the Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta) are unknown; it was probably built during the first half of the eleventh century.

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.

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.

A long aisle links the Duomo to the palace of the archbishop, the Palazzo Arcivescovile, which houses an Immacolata by Luca Giordano.

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.

The Castello Svevo ("Swabian" or Hohenstaufen 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, adding the octagonal tower to the original structure, in 1239.

In the apse, a sixteenth-century triptych made by Cristoforo Faffeo represents the Madonna and Child in glory with saints Catherine and Sebastian.

The museum hosts a wide range of modern art sculptures that stand in the street for residents and tourists.

They include Saint George and the Dragon by Salvador Dalí, Hector and Andromache by Giorgio de Chirico, "the Bronzes" by Sacha Sosno, The Bather by Emilio Greco, The Cardinal by Giacomo Manzù, and various marble sculptures by Pietro Consagra.