Cosenza, city, southern Italy, capital of Cosenza Province, in Calabria Region, at the confluence of the Busento and Crati rivers. An agricultural and manufacturing center, Cosenza has factories producing lumber, furniture, and textiles. Cosenza is the site of a cathedral (12th-13th century) and a castle (13th century) built by Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire. Known in ancient times as Cosentia, it was the principal city of the Bruttii, an Italic tribe that flourished in the region of Calabria during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. In 204 BC, during the Second Punic War, the town was taken by the Romans. Population (1997 estimate) 76,817.