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 (UKˌfæməˈɡʊstə,_ˌfɑːm- , USˌfɑːməˈɡuːstə ; Ammóchostos, aˈmːoxostos; Mağusa maˈusa or Gazimağusa ɡaːzimaˈusa) 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 Republic of Cyprus, currently under the de facto control of Northern Cyprus as the capital of the Gazimağusa District. In antiquity, the town was known as Arsinoe (Ἀρσινόη), 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 (Αμμόχωστος), meaning "hidden in [the] sand", which is how Greeks still call it.