Famagosta — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

Famagosta, or FAMAGUSTA, a seaport on the east coast of Cyprus, on the supposed site of ancient Arsinoë. It was a place of importance during the Crusades; and under the Venetians from 1487 to 1571 it became a rich and flourishing seaport, with 30,000 inhabitants. On falling into the hands of the Turks after a long siege (1571), it began to decay; an earthquake in 1735 completed its ruin. The church of St Nicholas, now used as a mosque, contains many monuments of its former use, and is a fine specimen of medieval architecture; in it Richard I. of England crowned Guy de Lusignan king of Cyprus in 1191. Famagosta, which now has only some 2500 inhabitants, possesses a natural harbour, $1\frac{1}{2}$ mile long by $\frac{1}{2}$ mile wide, but it is now almost sanded up. The chief exports are corn and its famous pomegranates.