The city of Famagusta was originally a small commercial port and a fishing village. The name of the city in Turkish is Gazimagusa and in Greek Ammokhostos. The name Famagusta is a frank corruption of the Greek name. It is located on the East coast in a bay between Cape Greco and Eloea and has the deepest port in Cyprus.

Much of the history of the city is obscure as there are no written documents, the only material comes from the accounts of the merchants who passed through it. The city is believed to occupy the site of the ancient city of Arsinoe.

To the North of Famagusta are the ruins of Salamis. This city is believed to have been founded in the 11th century BC, having been abandoned in 648 AD after the combined catastrophes of earthquakes and raids by Arab pirates. Salamina's population then moved to Famagusta.

In 1291, an influx of Christian refugees fleeing the fall of San Giovanni d'Acri in Palestine transformed it from a small village into one of the richest cities in Christianity. By 1300, the city was one of the main markets in the Eastern Mediterranean and home to many Christian religious orders, as can be seen from the many churches of different denominations that can still be seen today.

In 1372 the port was conquered by the Genoeses. The rivalries between Genoeses and Venetians brought about an unstable peace, however the island as a whole was still under the dominion of the Lusignano. This ended when the last king of Lusignano died without leaving heirs. His mother, who was Venetian, was persuaded to hand over the kingdom to the Venetians and in 1489 took control of the island, moving the capital from Nicosia to Famagusta, ruling the entire island from there.

The Venetians saw Cyprus as a military base and spent their time on the island fortifying the main cities. The invention of gunpowder and the use of the cannon made the existing defences obsolete, and the Venetians remodelled the defences for the use of artillery. The medieval square towers were replaced with the round ones, and portholes were inserted throughout the walls and the citadel. Most of this fortification can still be seen; in fact the Porta di Terra (Ravelin), is the main pedestrian entrance in the old city until today.

Relations between the Venetians and the Ottomans were strained to say the least. The Venetian seizure of Turkish ships, the execution of Turkish corsairs in violation of an Ottoman-Venetian treaty and the continued presence of Maltese pirates in the Venetian ports, which harassed Muslim pilgrims and interfered in general trade, eventually made the Sultan intervene.

He acted to end this state of affairs, as well as to consolidate Ottoman control of the East in general. In 1570, an Ottoman army placed the city under a siege that lasted from January to October 1571, when Cyprus fell under total Ottoman control.

Damaged by war and earthquakes, the old walled city is now only partially inhabited, but contains some of the best examples of medieval military architecture still in existence today, as well as the 14th century Gothic style St. Nicholas Cathedral, now a mosque.

Outside the city, the spectacular ruins of Salamina give an idea of ​​the lost civilizations, and include a magnificent amphitheatre, Roman baths, a gym and royal tombs. In the hinterland of Famagusta are the church and monastery of San Barnaba, martyred in Salamis in 52 AD. The church has been preserved as it was when it was abandoned in 1976. Inside the church there is a wonderful collection of 18th century icons, and the cloisters of the monastery now house an archaeological museum.