Districts of Cyprus - Famagusta Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. The ruins of the ancient town of Salamis outside Famagusta Lala Mustafa Pasa Mosque (St. Nicholas Cathedral)The town was known as Arsinoe (after Arsinoe of Egypt) in antiquity, then Ammochostos (meaning "hidden in sand") which is how it is today referred to in Greek. The same name developed into Famagusta,used in Western European languages and the Turkish name of Magusa (Gazi is a Turkish prefix meaning veteran or simply ghazi, given officially after 1974, compare to Gaziantep.). It seems to have had its heyday in the 13th century when Christians fleeing from Syria and Palestine settled there and developed it into a wealthy city under the Frankish Lusignan dynasty, which ruled from 1192. It declined after a riot in the 14th century and by 1489, when the Venetians took over, it had seen better times. They redeveloped it, building a massive wall round the old town, still mostly remaining. The Martinengo bastion is an excellent example of expert fortification, as it provides protection for the walls on either side of it: it reminded one tourist (no expert!) of a similar protection to be seen far away in the walls of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. The Ottoman forces took over in 1571, converting churches into mosques or using them for secular purposes. The Cathedral of St Nicholas became the Lala Mustapha Pasa Mosque.