Piazza XV Marzo

The story

The name recalls 15 March 1844, when Cosenza's patriots rose against the Bourbons in front of the Intendenza palace; the square was once also called "della Prefettura". That palace, now home to the Prefecture and the Province, had been an 18th-century convent with the church of Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, then the seat of the Intendenza of Calabria Citeriore. Since 1861 the Provincial Council has met there, and the Villa Comunale gardens grew up beside it.

The Teatro Rendano faces the square, designed by engineer Nicola Zumpano and opened on 20 November 1909 with Aida; in 1943 a bomb meant for the castle hit it squarely, and it reopened only on 7 January 1967. To the theatre's right stands the seat of the Accademia Cosentina, founded by Aulo Giano Parrasio in 1511 and reorganised by Telesio. At the centre is the philosopher in bronze, by Achille D'Orsi (1914).

What to look for

Look at the bronze statue of Telesio, caught in a meditative pose, with the bronze bas-reliefs on its granite base, and then at the façade of the Rendano, with its portico of large pillars and the pierced balustrade bearing the civic emblem. The square also holds an 1878 monument to the martyrs of 1844.