COSENZA, a town and archiepiscopal see of Calabria, Italy (anc. Consentia), capital of a province, 755 ft. above sea-level, 43 m. by rail S. by W. of Sibari, on the East coast railway and 37 m. S.E. of Paola on the west coast line. Pop. (1931) 36,113 (com mune). It is situated on the slope of a hill between the Crati and Busento, just above the junction, and is commanded by a castle (1,25o ft.). The ancient. Consentia is first named as the burial place of Alexander of Epirus in about 33o B.C. In 204 it became Roman, though it was more under the influence of Greek culture. It is mentioned by Strabo as the chief town of the Bruttii, and frequently spoken of in classical authors as an important place. It lay on the Via Popilia. Varro speaks of its apple trees which gave fruit twice in the year and Pliny praises its wine. Cosenza became an archbishopric in the 11th century. The Gothic cathe dral, consecrated in 1222, goes back to French models in Cham pagne, and is unique in Italy. It contains the Gothic tomb of Isabella of Aragon, wife of Philip III. of France, and also the tomb of Louis III., duke of Anjou. In 1461 Cosenza was taken by Roberto Orsini, and suffered severely. It was the home of a scientific academy founded by the philosopher Bernardino Telesio (1509-88). In 1555-61 it was the centre of the persecution by the Inquisition of the Waldenses who had settled there towards the end of the 14th century. The Palazzo del Tribunale (law courts) is a fine building, and the upper town contains several good houses. Railways run south-east from Cosenza into the Sila district, to Decollatura (44 m.) and San Pietro in Guarano (19 m.) . There is some trade in wool.