Famagusta

Famagusta , Gr. Ammochostos, city (1992 pop. 30,798), E Cyprus, on Famagusta Bay. An important port and a Turkish administrative center, the city was completely evacuated in 1974 when Turkey invaded the island. Before 1974 the majority of the population had been Greek Cypriots. Farming is the main occupation, and there are other light industries. Famagusta occupies the site of ancient Arsinoë, built (3d cent. BC) by Ptolemy II. After the fall (1291) of Acre to the Saracens, Christian refugees greatly increased the city's wealth. The seat (15th-16th cent.) of the Venetian governors of Cyprus, it was strongly fortified by the Venetians; the governor's palace, the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, and many churches testify to its medieval splendor. As a British naval base the city was heavily bombed in World War II, and from 1946 to 1948 a British internment camp for illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine was maintained near the city. Famagusta is thought to be the scene of Acts II through V of Shakespeare's Othello.

Famagusta (Greek: Ammókhostos; Turkish: Mağusa/Gazimağusa), Cyprus Arsinoe Founded during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus^† and named after his wife; it is not known which one since he had two, both called Arsinoë (the second one being his sister). The name may be a Frankish corruption of the Greek name which could mean ‘Buried in the Sand’, a reference to the mouth of the River Pedieos which became choked with sand, from the Greek ammos ‘sand’ and khōstos ‘built up’, or ‘(Town by the) Sand Dune’. Some sources claim that the present name is derived from Fama Augusta, possibly the ‘Pride of Augustus’ after Emperor Augustus^†. The town was held by the Ottoman Turks between 1571 and 1878 when the British assumed responsibility for the administration of Cyprus. The island gained its independence in 1960, but in 1974 the Turks invaded and seized the town. It is now in the region called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.