Famagusta(redirected from Ammochostos)
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Related to Ammochostos: Magosa
Famagusta(fämägo͞o`stä), 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. B.C.) by Ptolemy IIPtolemy II
(Ptolemy Philadelphus) , c.308–246 B.C., king of ancient Egypt (285–246 B.C.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy I and Berenice (c.340–281 B.C.). He continued his father's efforts to make Alexandria the cultural center of the Greek world.
..... Click the link for more information. . After the fall (1291) of Acre (see AkkoAkko
, Fr. Saint-Jean d'Acre, Arab. Acca, city (1994 pop. 45,300), NW Israel, a port on the Bay of Haifa (an arm of the Mediterranean Sea). Its manufactures include iron and steel, chemicals, and textiles. The city was captured (A.D.
..... Click the link for more information. ) 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.
a port in E Cyprus, on Famagusta Bay: became one of the richest cities in Christendom in the 14th century. Pop.: 67 167 (1994)