Famagusta                      

 

Famagusta (Greek: Ammokhostos (Αμμόχωστος); Turkish: Gazimağusa or Mağusa) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus and is capital of the Famagusta District. It is located in a bay between Capes Greco and Eloea, east of Nicosia, and has the deepest harbour on the island. Since the 1974 Turkish invasion the city has resided in the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognised only by Turkey) but much of the city is abandoned: the Turkish Cypriots intend to return the area to Greek Cypriot control if a confederal agreement is reached for the island.     

Famagusta contains spectacular ruins, including a magnificent amphitheatre, Roman baths, a gymnasium and royal tombs. The mosaics are particularly beautiful. Just inland from Famagusta are the church and monastery dedicated to St. Barnabas, the founder of the apostolic Cypriot Orthodox Church in 45 AD. Barnabas a Cypriot from Salamis who visited the island accompanied by St. Paul and St. Mark and was later martyred in Salamis in 52 AD. The church of St. Barnabas is preserved exactly as it was since abandoned in 1976. There is a collection of 18th century icons and the monastery cloisters now houses an archaeological museum.

Famagusta harbour is dominated by a great citadel sometimes known as Othello's Tower in reference to the (fictional) play by Shakespeare. It contains a splendid 14th century Gothic Hall.

The Venetian Palace was used, after its destruction in 1571, during the Ottoman Empire as a prison, and among the prisoners was Namik Kemal, the National poet of the Ottoman Empire, who was held there between 1873 and 1876, after having been exiled to Cyprus by the Sultan.