Famagusta

{{Infobox settlement |name = Famagusta |native_name = |image_skyline = Famagusta 01-2017 img14 Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Lala Mustafa Pasha Mosque |image_flag = |image_seal = |pushpin_map = Cyprus |pushpin_mapsize = 300 |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = |subdivision_type1 =  • District |subdivision_name1 = Famagusta District |subdivision_type2 = Country {{nobold|(de facto)}} |subdivision_name2 = |subdivision_type3 =  • District |subdivision_name3 = Gazimağusa District |TotalArea_sq_mi = |area_total = |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Süleyman Uluçay |leader_title2 = |leader_name2 = |population_as_of = 2019 |population_footnotes = | population_blank1_title = Municipality | population_blank1 = 55648 (District:91,307) | population_note = |coordinates = |timezone = EET |utc_offset = +2 |timezone_DST = EEST |utc_offset_DST = +3 |website = Famagusta Turkish municipality (in Famagusta)Greek Cypriot municipality (in exile) }} Famagusta ( , ; , ; or ) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice), Famagusta was the island's most important port city and a gateway to trade with the ports of the Levant, from where the Silk Road merchants carried their goods to Western Europe. The old walled city and parts of the modern city are a de jure territory of the Republic of Cyprus, currently under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus as the capital of the Gazimağusa District. Name In antiquity, the town was known as Arsinoe, after the Greek queen Arsinoe II of Egypt, and was mentioned by that name by Strabo. In the 3rd century book Stadiasmus Maris Magni, is written as Ammochostos, meaning "hidden in [the] sand", which is how Greeks still call it. This name developed into Famagusta (originally Famagouste in French and Famagosta in Italian), used in Western European languages, and to its Turkish name, Mağusa. In Turkish, the city is also called ; Gazi means veteran in Turkish (ultimately from Arabic, meaning one who fights in a holy war), and the city has been officially awarded with the title after 1974 (compare Gaziantep).