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The Castle

The castle of the Arabs recovered from the stupor mundi 380 meters on the hill Pancrazio, at the end of the street of the same name, the ruins of the castle dominate the Bruttii capital. Raised by the Saracens perhaps on the ruins of the Rocca Bretica, after the year 1000 it was reinforced by the Arab Caliph Saati. Around 1130 its primitive structure was reinforced by the Duke of the Normans Ruggero II. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1184, Frederick II took care of the reconstruction towards the 1239, according to a draft of its military architects. Built by local labor with blocks of calcareous tufa of Mendicino and Laurignano caves, the castle was rectangular in plant and on several floors, with two square and two polygonal towers in the corners. The wrath of the emperor According to a tradition no longer followed, in 1235 Frederick II incarcerated there his son Arrigo Lo Zoppo, guilty of collusion with the municipalities of northern Italy which rebelled against the emperor.

Princely residence In 1433, from being a military fortress, the castle was adapted for royal residence to house Louis III of Anjou, with his wife Margaret, daughter of Amadeus VIII of Savoy. Towards the middle of the century, during the rule of the Aragonese, also the king Alfonso stayed there. In the years of the Angevin-Aragonese conflict, it was used to mint silver and copper coins. It is certain that in spite of the multiple uses that were made of it, the castle of Cosenza was still, at the beginning of 1500, one of the most important military forts of northern Calabria.

The armory, the religious vocation, the terrible earthquakes Around 1540 it was used to store weapons and ammunition and was opened as a prison. In 1560 there was jailed the Calvinist pastor Gian Luigi Pascale, who wrote from his cell to the Waldenses of Calabria, awakened by his preaching mission. After 1630 the slow decline of the castle began, repeatedly dismantled by earthquakes: the one of 1638 ruined the upper floors, the ramparts and towers, that of 1659 broke down the remaining walls. Around the middle of 1700 it was asked in perpetual gift to the king of Naples by the Archbishop of Cosenza Michele Maria Capece Galeota to be adapted to a seminar, with the commitment of restorations that, carried out, distorted the already precarious appearance. Later restored by various archbishops and in 1810 by Joachim Murat, in 1835 it got damaged by the earthquake. By the Bourbon government it was again used as a political prison: after the insurrection of 1844, many patriots were imprisoned there. Undermined by further earthquakes in 1852 and 1854, after the unification of Italy in 1883 it became property of the State Land Administration. In 1883 it was purchased by the City of Cosenza at a public auction. Still damaged by the earthquake of 1905, it was subject, in the course of this century, to various partial restorations. Source: wikipedia

 

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The History

The History

Suggestive contents of civilisation Cosenza is a multilayered reality and rich in suggestive civilisation contents whose historical path should have been started just before the middle of the fourth century BC, when Cosentia gained strategic value and a cornerstone function in the Brettian union. Ancient sources confirm the use of the ancient name by defining the city “metropolis of Brettii” or capital of that Brettiian ethnos formed around 356 BC after the Secessionist movement against the Lucanians. Alaric gives his remains and his treasure The period of Roman rule resulted in a work of territorial planning and strengthening of productive activities, and in the imperial age Cosenza assumed the appearance of a well-structured town. In 410 AD Alaric king of the Visigoths, after completing the sack of Rome, died near Cosenza thus tying his legendary reputation to this city, which in the popular imagination is to be seen as the prime custodian of the remains of the barbarian king and hiding place of his treasure.

From the Byzantines to the Normans The sixth century opens the chapter of Byzantine domination, which, however, must deal with the persistent attempts of conquest by the Arabs and Lombards: the latter with their raids manage to diminish the internal unity of the region. The Lombard rule continues at least until the end of the ninth century when Cosenza returned in the sphere of Byzantine sovereignty. The following attestations drive us back to the age of the Normans and the process of conquest of southern Italy by Robert Guiscard. In 1058 Cosenza officially surrenders to the Norman authority.

Henry VII, the gift of Frederick to Cosenza In 1130 with the creation of the kingdom of Sicily the Swabian domination begins and the figure of Frederick II is associated with major events such as the completion of the Cathedral and its consecration which took place on 30th January 1222, with the donation of the precious reliquary commissioned to Sicilian goldsmiths. The sign of the bond that had been established between the emperor Frederick II and the city is expressed in the choice to store the corpse of the eldest son Henry VII in the just consecrated Cathedral, in a Greek marble sarcophagus decorated in relief with scenes of Calydonian Hunt. After Manfredi’s unsuccessful attempts to hold the fate of the kingdom inherited from his father, the Swabians succedeed to the Angevins, led by Charles of Anjou. The following century saw the advent of the Aragonese dynasty, which concludes the medieval period.

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Accommodation & Restaurants

ACCOMMODATION Hotel Centrale Cosenza, Via dei tigrai, 3. Hotel Athena Palace Acquappesa, Via del mare, 2. Tyrrenian Park Hotel Amantea, Via stromboli, 227. Hotel Ristorante La Tonnara Amantea, Via tonnara, 13. Hotel Executive Rende, Via marconi 59. Hotel Piccolo Mondo Acquappesa, C.da bergamotto, 2. RESTAURANTS AL FRANTOIO Via degli Stadi 098431131 Al GIRONE DEI GOLOSI – Via Pasquale Rossi, 79 AMERICAN BAR 99 Via Roma 99 ANTICA LOCANDA DEL POVERO ENZO Via Montesanto,42 0984 28861 DA ARMANDO Via Monte Grappa, 36 0984 29481 AL FRANTOIO Via degli Stadi 0984 31131 ALLE QUERCE C.da Pasquali di Mendicino 0984 631096 BARBIERI Via S. Nicola, 30 – Altomonte 0981 948072 CLUB DEGLI AMICI Via Diaz, 4 0984 24838 DA ALESSANDRO MAGNO Via S. Francesco – Paterno Cal. 0984 476012 prenot. obblig. DA GIOCONDO Via Piave, 53 0984 29810 DAL CUGINO Via Marini Serra, 6 – Dipignano 0984 621103 DAL POVERO ENZO Via Monte Santo, 42 0984 28861 DA QUINTINO Piazza Riforma, 1 0984 25089 DRAGONE D’ORO (cinese) Via Alimena, 75 0984 76713 EDEN PARK C.da Episcopani 0984 26111 GIRARROSTO Via N. Serra, 16 0984 391995 GRANDINETTI Via S. Quattromani, 32 0984 26578 HONG KONG (cinese) Via Cattaneo, 78 0984 26106 HOSTARIA LA VECCHIA CUCINA Via Miceli, 21 0984 29439 IAZZOLINO Corso Mazzini, 21 0984 443195 IL GATTOPARDO Via P. Rossi, 75/79 0984 393580 IL GIARDINO INTERIORE Via Montegrappa,58 098421708 IL MAGGIOLINO MATTO Via Caloprese, 66 0984 32708 L’ARCA Via Catena, 31 – Trenta 0984 439508 LA CALAVRISELLA Via De Rada,11 0984 28012 L’ARCO VECCHIO Via Archi di Ciaccio, 21 0984 72564 LIVIU’ DA LIVIO Via Pulsano, 19 – Tessano 0984 445506 LUNA ROSSA Via Sicilia, 94 0984 32470 MANCUSO Piazza della Provincia 0984 413088 POMODORO Via Concio Stocchi,12 0984 402080 PORTOFINO Via M. Mari, 27 0984 71622 RIO CUBA C.da Motta di Castrolibero 0984 454189 TINA PICA Via Rivocati 0984 23554 TULIPAN C.da Vadue di Carolei 0984 624130 (nuova gestione) PIZZERIE AL RUSTICO C.so Mazzini, 190 0984 26991 AL VECCHIO ULIVO C.da Cozzo Presta, 23 0984 21494 AL VICOLETTO Trav. Via Simonetta, 9 0984 791609 BLADE RUNNER Via Papa Giovanni XXIII, 110 0984 852859 CALO’ Salita Liceo B.Telesio 0984 72710 CANONICO Via Chinnici, 24 0984 35986 CAPUTO Via Frugiuele, 36 0984 72040 125 Via Alimena, 125 0984 23362 2000 Via delle Medaglie d’Oro, 162 0984 391017 EUROPA P.zza Europa 0984 36599 FUNICULI’ Via g.Falcone 0984 398745 BRACIOTTO Via V. Veneto, 25 0984 24938 GRECO Via R. Montagna, 9 0984 24142 IL PORTALE C.so Plebiscito, 8 0984 72873 JAMES JOYCE IRISH PUB Via Cafarone, 19 0984 22799 LA CASTAGNA Via Capoderose, 9 0984 21153 LA COMALPI Via Panebianco, 402 0984 38319 LANZILLOTTA Viale della repubblica, 351 0984 38118 L’INCONTRO Via Sicilia, 64 0984 35369 LO SFIZIO Via C. Marini, 6/F 0984 28550 PERRI Via delle Medaglie d’Oro, 1 0984 413168 PIZZA E PIZZA Piazza Fera, 48 0984 24209 PIZZA FRIZZ Viale della Repubblica, 183 0984 29269 PIZZA FRIZZ Via T. Arnone 0984 72890 PIZZA TELEPHON Via Adige, 24 0984 22414 PIZZA VOLANTE Via Popilia, 162 0984 412091 PULECENELLA Via Provinciale (Donnici) 0984 780033 SANTA TERESA Via Calabria, 1 0984 29890 SPEED PIZZA Via R. Chinnici, 24 0984 35896 Sempre aperto TUTTA ‘NATA STORIA C.da Vadue di Carolei 0984 624088 AL TAPPO Via Arabia, 27/B 0984 73567 CRISTINI Via Calabria, 36 0984 76047 IL TRAMEZZINO Corso d’Italia, 118 0984 38768 LEON D’ORO Piazza dei Valdesi, 218 0984 75873 MAKUMBA Via Caloprese, 21 0984 22400

THE WONDERFUL CASTELS IN BASILICATA - PUGLIA - CALABRIA - SICILIA

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