Elmina Castle

This facility, built by Portuguese colonists in the central region in 1482 for use initially as a trading post on the so-called Ghanaian Golden Coast, later became a holding point for African slaves.

According to historiography, hunters captured free men within the continent and sold them to the Portuguese and later to the Dutch, who exchanged with them textiles and other goods such as animals. Later, it was the English who ruled the area.

During a visit a few years ago, this Orbe editor was able to appreciate the fortification surrounded by several cannons and the surrounding docks in the nearby Atlantic, where slaves were transported by boat to other parts of the world.

Passing through the galleries of the imposing masonry, considered the oldest European hand found in sub-Saharan Africa, the areas still preserved stand out, among them the dreaded female dungeon, isolation rooms, walls and interior patios.

In order to enhance historical memory, recently, the Government of Ghana, with the support of UNESCO, restored Elmina Castle, whose upper terraces a foreigner can observe the landscape of sea waters, boats and fishermen.

At the moment, tourists and researchers visit the majestic place which, despite its disgraceful colonial past, also reminds of the indigenous African people who lived around it.

Ghana, home to heroes such as Kuame Nkruma (1909-1972), has other fortifications of great heritage value, including the Cape Coast Castle, erected in 1653, and Ussher Castle in Accra, the country’s capital.

(taken from orb)