The Alcantara (Italian: [alˈkantara]; Sicilian: Arcàntara or Càntara) is a river in Sicily, Southern Italy. It has its source on the south side of Monti Nebrodi and its mouth in the Ionian Sea at Capo Schiso in Giardini-Naxos. The river is 52 kilometres long.
The name Alcantara is of Arabic origin 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 occasion of the attack made on Naxos by the Messenians in 425 BCE.
