FAMAGUSTA, a town and harbour on the east coast of Cy prus (Gr. Ammochostos), 24 m. S. of the ruins of Salamis (q.v.). The population in 1901 was 818, nearly all being Muslims who live within the walls of the fortress ; the Christian population has migrated to a suburb, Varosia (pop. 2,948). When Salamis (q.v. = Roman Constantia) was destroyed by the Arabs in A.D. 647, its Christian inhabitants settled at the neighbouring Arsinoe (Am mochostos "choked with sand") which had been built by Ptolemy Philadelphus in 274 B.C., and now became the seat of the orthodox archbishopric. Famagusta received many refugees at the fall of Acre in ; was annexed by the Genoese in 1376; reunited to the throne of Cyprus in 1464 ; and surrendered to the Turks in 1571 after a year's siege. The fortifications, remodelled by the Venetians after 1489, the castle, the grand Gothic cathedral of St. Nicolas (now a mosque) and the remains of the palace and many other churches testify to the mediaeval splendour of Fama gusta. Acts ii. and v. of Shakespeare's Othello pass there, and the "Moor's Tower" is still shown. Since 1903 much has been done to develop the natural harbour and a light railway connects it with Nicosia (q.v.). Pop. including Varosia (1931) 9,979.