Famagusta is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia, and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the medieval period, Famagusta was the island's most important port city, and a gateway to trade with the ports of the Levant, from where the Silk Road merchants carried their goods to Western Europe. The old walled city and parts of the modern town presently fall within the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Gazimagusa District of which it is the capital.