The charm of this legend, taken almost to truth in the city of Cosenza, has brought tourists from all over the world in search of the tomb of King Alaric.
An episode halfway between history and myth, according to which, in the historical centre, at the bottom of the Busento river, the king of the Goths was buried with his horse, his armour and the treasures collected during the wars, just as it was due to a commander.
We are in 410 A.D., when the Goths’ army led by King Alaric, after having sacked Rome, moved south to reach Africa from the Strait. When they reached Cosenza, malaria struck the king and the soldiers buried him in the riverbed, diverted its course and killed all the slaves and prisoners who had participated in the burial, so that no one could reveal the secret.
Since then this myth has been handed down and, since 2016, at the junction between the river Crati and the Busento, stands the Statue of Alaric, strongly desired by the municipal administration of Cosenza.
