Ghana's Elmina Slave Castle

Europe had long eyed the coast of Africa as a source of wealth and pivotal to establishing and maintaining trade routes into the interior, but it was not until 1482 that Diogo de Azambuja, a Portuguese explorer, landed on the western coast of Africa with 600 soldiers and 100 craftsmen. He was charged with constructing a fortress on the Gulf of Guinea. He carried with him the necessary building materials and the fortress, São Jorge da Mina, was habitable in approximately twenty-days but construction continued until 1486. The fortress was named in honor of Portugal’s patron saint, George and referenced the area’s gold mines (mina). Gradually da Mina morphed into Elmina, as it is known today. www.elminacastle.info

Established by the Portuguese to provide safe harbor for their ships and facilitate and protect the lucrative gold trade, Elmina Castle would eventually gain the distinction of being the first European slave-trading fort in sub-saharan Africa. Azambuja’s ships returned to Portugal but he and 60 soldiers remained. He stayed until 1484 to complete the task of making contact with local natives, obtaining gold and ivory and creating trade routes. The area was chosen because of its abundance of wealth, so much gold in fact it was renowned as ‘The Gold Coast”.

It was actually the Dutch in 1637 who began to use the fortress as a collection point for the African slaves as they awaited transport, sometimes as long as 3-months, to the islands in the Caribbean and Brazil. Elmina became an important point in the triangle trade and eventually as many as 30,000 Africans passed through the doors to embark on the Middle Passage. In 1871 the Dutch sold the fortress to the British. The country of Ghana took possession of Elmina and the 33 other existing coastal forts, constructed 1482-1782, in 1957.

Elmina Castle stands today on the Ghanaian coast, a white-washed structure, for many years the largest European building in sub-saharan Africa, set against a backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. UNESCO designated the structure a World Heritage Monument in 1972.

The fortress  was selected because it was strategically situated on an outcrop, a natural harbor, with the Atlantic Ocean on two sides. It was ideal for defense purposes as well as a shipping point for the African slave trade. Guns, facing the ocean, protected the Portuguese by sea. Big guns did not  face the land because there was little fear of an attack from the interior.

Tours of the complex take visitors through the gloomy and dank lower level, where the business of slavery occurred, and the brighter upper levels where the Portuguese lived. Of particular note is a courtyard where women were paraded for selection by the officers and the staircase where, if “chosen”, they ascended to the upper level and to a different fate. The dungeons, designed to house several hundred individuals, often held more than 1,000 without adequate water, food or even space to lie down.

Elmina’s “Door of No Return” is located facing the sea. The door was the final point in Africa for the captives. From here they boarded ships for the transatlantic journey. The door was once larger but was altered so that only a single person at a time could pass through.

The final tour stop is a tiny cell located on the lower level, easily identified by a skull carved atop the doorway. Belligerent slaves were incarcerated here and refused any sustenance until they died. An adjacent  plaque reads, “In Everlasting Memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died rest in peace. May those who return find their roots…...”

(airpeskoe2/Flickr)