Alcantara (river)

The Alcantara is a river in Sicily, Southern Italy. It rises on the south side of Monti Nebrodi and empties into the Ionian Sea at Capo Schiso in Giardini-Naxos. The river is 52 kilometres (32 mi) long. The name Alcantara is of Arabic origin (القنطرة, al-Qanṭarah, 'the Arch') and refers to a bridge from Roman times found by the Arabs. Thucydides called it Acesines while its Latin names were Assinus, Assinos, Asines, Asinius, Onobala, Onobalas, and Acesines. Cantera was another hydronym for it, adopted by Normans. The river is mentioned by Thucydides on the occasion of the attack made on Naxos by the Messenians in 425 BCE.