Famagusta - Name

Name

In antiquity, the town was known as Arsinoe (Ancient Greek: Ἀρσινόη), after Arsinoe II of Egypt, and was mentioned by that name by Strabo. In Greek it is called Ammochostos, meaning "hidden in sand". This name developed into Famagusta (originally Famagouste in French and Famagosta in Italian), used in Western European languages and the Turkish name, Mağusa. In fact, its Turkish name is Gazi-Mağusa (Gazi is a Turkish prefix meaning veteran, and was awarded officially after 1974; compare Gaziantep). The old town is nicknamed "The city of 365 churches" owing to a legend that at its peak, Famagusta boasted one church for each day of the year.