Fort Frederiksborg, later Fort Royal, was a Danish and later English fort on the Gold Coast in contemporary

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

. It was built in 1661, with the approval of the King of Fetu, a few hundred yards from

Cape Coast Castle Cape Coast Castle ( sv, Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, establish ...

, which was at that time in Swedish hands, on Amanfro Hill. Along with several other castles and forts nearby, Fort Frederiksborg was inscribed on the

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 1979 because of its testimony to European economic influence on West Africa and the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and ...

History

Frederiksborg was a small fort from which Cape Coast Castle could easily be bombarded. It functioned for a short time as the headquarters of the Danish West India Company on the

Danish Gold Coast The Danish Gold Coast ( da, Danske Guldkyst or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At a ...

, before it was moved to

Christiansborg Castle Christiansborg Palace ( da, Christiansborg Slot; ) is a palace and government building on the islet of Slotsholmen in central Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the seat of the Danish Parliament ('), the Danish Prime Minister's Office, and the Supreme ...

in Osu. In 1665 the English

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the west coast of Africa. It was led by the Duke of York, who was the brother of ...

took over

and reinforced it to use it as their new headquarters. The Danes had little use of their fort. The fort was first pawned to the English in 1679 before it was finally sold to them in 1685. The English reconstructed the fort in 1699 and renamed it ''Fort Royal''. They soon abandoned it again, however.

References

Sources

* {{coord missing, Ghana Buildings and structures completed in 1661 History of Ghana Castles in Ghana 1661 establishments in Africa 1661 establishments in the Danish colonial empire Frederiksborg