The Platani (), known in

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

as the (''Lykos'', "wolf") or (''Halykos'', "Salty"), is a river in southern

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is the fifth longest in the island after

Imera Meridionale The Salso ( Sicilian: ''Salsu/Sarsu''), also known as the Imera Meridionale (Greek: ; Latin Himera), is a river of Sicily. It rises in the Madonie Mountains (Latin: Nebrodes Mons; Sicilian: Munti Madunìi) and, traversing the provinces of Enna an ...

Simeto The Simeto (; ; ; ) is a long river in Sicily, southern Italy. At , it is the second longest river on the island after the Salso (also known as Southern Imera), but the most important in terms of watershed ().Belice The Belice, , is a river of western Sicily. It is about long. From its main source near Piana degli Albanesi it runs south and west for as the Belice Destro ("right Belice") until it is joined near Poggioreale by its secondary branch, the B ...

and

Dittaino The Dittaino (Greek: ; Latin: Chrysas) is a river of central Sicily which rises in the Heraean Mountains, not far from the modern towns of Gangi and Enna. It is long. After flowing through the territory of Assorus, where its tutelary divinity ...

, with a course of 103 km, and the third for

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

with 1,785 km², after the Simeto and Imera Meridionale. It flows through the provinces of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and

Agrigento Agrigento (; or ) is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. Founded around 582 BC by Greek colonists from Gela, Agrigento, then known as Akragas, was one of the leading cities during the golden ...

, marking the boundary between the latter and that of Caltanissetta. left, The Platani river near Heraclea Minoa. The river generates at the confluence of Platani di Lercara and Platani di Castronuovo, which, respectively, springs in the ''

comuni A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

Lercara Friddi Lercara Friddi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. Geography Lercara Friddi rises almost at the foot of Colle Madore and its Sican archeolo ...

(under the Pizzo Lanzone mountain) and

Santo Stefano Quisquina Santo Stefano Quisquina ( Sicilian: ''Santu Stèfanu Quisquina'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about north of Agrigento. It has strong ties with Tam ...

(between the Serra della Moneta and Pizzo della Rondine mountains). From the confluence to the mouth it runs for c. 83 km; including the branch of Castronuovo the total length is 103 km. Along its course the Platani receives the waters of several affluents, including the Gallo d'Oro, Turvoli, Vallone Morella, Vallone Tumarrano and Vallone di Aragona. The river flows into the

Strait of Sicily The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; or the ; or , ' or ') is the strait between Sicily and Tunisia. The strait is about wide and divides the Ty ...

, near Capo Bianco, on the boundary of the ''comuni'' of Ribera and

Cattolica Eraclea Cattolica Eraclea (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about northwest of Agrigento nearby the Platani (river), Platani river valley. The town w ...

References

Sources

{{Authority control Rivers of Italy Rivers of Sicily Rivers of the Metropolitan City of Palermo Rivers of the Province of Agrigento Rivers of the Province of Caltanissetta European drainage basins of the Mediterranean Sea