Alcantara (river)
Course of the river Alcantara
Template: Infobox River / Obsolete
Alcantara is a river in Sicily. It rises on the south side of Nebrodes near the village Floresta and ends at Capo Schiso in Giardini Naxos (south of Taormina) into the Ionian Sea. The river has a length of 52 km.
The name Alcantara is of Arabic origin ( al Quantarah = the bridge) and refers to a bridge from Roman times, who found the Arabs near the estuary.
Course
The Alcantara rises in 1250 m s.l.m. in the municipality of Floresta. On its way to its mouth it flows through the territories of the north of Mount Etna, situated towns Randazzo, Mojo Alcantara, Francavilla di Sicilia, Motta Camastra, Castiglione di Sicilia, Graniti, Gaggi, Calatabiano, Taormina and Giardini Naxos.
Several thousand years ago, the river bed was blocked by a lava flow of the secondary crater of Mount Etna at Mojo Alcantara. As the lava was cooled much faster through the water than normal, she took during solidification of a special form, the Säulenlava. In the millennia the river has carved through this lava flow and so remarkable gorges, the Alcantara Gorges formed.
Alcantara River Park
In 2001, an Alcantara River Park ( Parco fluvial dell'Alcantara ) was established, the first, to protect the river, and on the other the promotion of its use is to serve as a recreation area and tourist destination.