1864 Johnson Map of Africa - Geographicus - Africa-johnson-1864 (guinea)

During the colonial period in

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 the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

(at the time known as the Gold Coast) roughly corresponding to the 15th through 19th centuries, European-style coastal

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s and

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

s were built, mostly by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

. These forts linked the trading routes established by the Portuguese and acted as important market places for the gold and slave trades. Because of their testimony to precolonial and colonial Afro-European commerce (including 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 ...

) and their profound effect on the history of West Africa, a number of these fortifications and outposts were designated as a

World Heritage Site 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 ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1979. Kumasi Fort in the

Ashanti Region The Ashanti Region is located in southern part of Ghana and it is the third largest of 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of or 10.2 percent of the total land area of Ghana. In terms of population, however, it is the m ...

was originally built by an Asante king in imitation of these colonial forts.Kumasi Fort and Military Museum
at

Coastal regions

World Heritage listed forts

Forts and Castles, Volta,

Greater Accra The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

, Central and Western Regions is the collective designation by

of European-style fortifications and outposts (mostly Portuguese, Dutch and British) along the Gold Coast (modern-day

) during the colonial period. The term specifically applies to a number of such fortifications designated as a

by UNESCO in 1979, including: * Three castles: **

Cape Coast Cape Coast is a city, fishing port, and the capital of Cape Coast Metropolitan District and Central Region of Ghana. It is one of the country's most historic cities, a World Heritage Site, home to the Cape Coast Castle, with the Gulf of Guine ...

** St. George's d’Elmina at

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina wa ...

** Christiansborg at

Osu, Accra Located about east of the central business district, Osu is a neighborhood in central Accra, Ghana. It is locally known as the "West End" of Accra. Bounded to the south by the Gulf of Guinea, Osu's western boundary is the Independence Avenu ...

* Fifteen forts: ** Good Hope at

Senya Beraku Senya Beraku is a residential area in the Awutu Senya District of the Central Region of 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 Oce ...

Patience (or forbearance) is the ability to endure difficult circumstances. Patience may involve perseverance in the face of delay; tolerance of provocation without responding in disrespect/anger; or forbearance when under strain, especially when face ...

Apam Apam is a coastal town and capital of Gomoa West District in the Central Region of Ghana, located approximately 45 kilometers east of the Central Region capital, Cape Coast. Apam is the site of Fort Lijdzaamheid or Fort Patience, a Dutch-built ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

at Abandze ** St. Jago at

** San Sebastian at Shama ** Metal Cross at Dixcove ** St. Anthony at

Axim Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim has ...

** Orange at Sekondi ** at

Prince's Town Princes Town or Pokesu is located 5 km east of Fort St. Antonio on Manfro Hill in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region of south Ghana. It lies between Axim to the west and Sekondi-Takoradi to the east. On 1 January 1681, a Bran ...

** William (Lighthouse) at

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

Anomabu Anomabu, also spelled Anomabo and formerly as Annamaboe, is a town on the coast of the Mfantsiman Municipal District of the Central Region of South Ghana. Anomabu has a settlement population of 14,389 people. Anomabu is located 12 km east ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

** Ussher at Usshertown, Accra ** James at

Jamestown, Accra Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British James Fort and Dutch Ussher Fort on the Gulf of Guinea coast. These districts ...

** Apollonia at Beyin * Four forts partially in ruins: **

at Abandze (Note, this fort is listed both as ''fort'' and as ''fort partially in ruins'' by UNESCO) ** English Fort at British Komenda ** Batenstein at

Butre Butre is a village in the Ahanta West district, district in the Western Region of Ghana. Butre contains the Fort Batenstein Fort Batenstein was a fort and trading post established by the Dutch on the Gold Coast in 1656. It was situated near Bu ...

; ** Prinzensten at

Keta Keta is a coastal town in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the Keta Municipal District. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they ...

* Ruins with visible structures: **

Nassau Nassau may refer to: Places Bahamas *Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence Canada *Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792 *Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...

at Mouri **

Fredensborg Fredensborg () is a railway town located in Fredensborg Municipality, North Zealand, some 30 kilometres north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is most known for Fredensborg Palace, one of the official residences of the Danish Royal Family. As of 1 Jan ...

Old Ningo Old Ningo is a town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. History Also known as Great Ningo, the inhabitants have always been a fishing and farming community. They form part of the Ga-Adangbe people. The name Ningo has a much more widely known an ...

Vredenburg Vredenburg is a town of the Cape West Coast in the Western Cape province of South Africa. "Vrede" is Afrikaans for peace. It is the transportation and commercial hub of the West Coast area and administrative centre of the Saldanha Bay Local Mun ...

at Dutch Komenda ** Vernon at

Prampram Prampram is a coastal town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The town is located in the Ningo Prampram District. Prampram (Gbugbla), the capital of Ningo-Prampram, is 15 minutes' drive from the port city of Tema and 45 minutes from Accra, th ...

Dorothea Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cr ...

Akwidaa Akwidaa is a small town and fishing village in Ahanta West district, a district in the Western Region of south-west Ghana, and is one of the southernmost places in Ghana. Economy The economy is primarily based upon fishing, with many fishing ...

* Two sites with traces of former fortifications: ** Frederiksborg at Amanful,

** Fort Augustaborg at

Teshie Teshie is a coastal town in the Ledzokuku Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana. Teshie is the ninth most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of 171,875 people. Politics Teshie is in th ...

Other coastal forts

Other coastal forts included in

Ghana's material cultural heritage The monuments list is taken from the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board, according to their description "legal custodian of Ghana's material cultural heritage (movable and immovable heritage)" GMMB classifies the monuments: The ID used on this page ...

list of the

Ghana Museums and Monuments Board The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) is the legal organisation responsible for the historic preservation , preservation of Ghana , Ghana's material cultural heritage. It was founded on 5 March 1957, soon after Ghana became independent, b ...

:Forts and Castles
at

website * Fort Fredericksburg at Amanful (distinguished from

Fort Frederiksborg Fort Frederiksborg, later Fort Royal, was a Danish and later English fort on the Gold Coast in contemporary Ghana. It was built in 1661, with the approval of the King of Fetu, a few hundred yards from Cape Coast Castle, which was at that time in ...

/Fort Royal near

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 ...

) * Fort McCarthy at Cape Coast * The Little Fort at Anomabu *

Fort Tantumquery Fort Tantumquery is a military structure designed to facilitate the slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated ...

Otuam Otuam (also Tantum) is a town in Ekumfi District, Central Region, Ghana. ''Nana'' Amuah-Afenyi VI (born Peggielene Bartels in 1953), known informally as King Peggy, is the reigning chief of a clan (Ebriadze Abusua) of the town. She is the head ...

Not listed as heritage (mostly largely destroyed or otherwise lost): *

Fort Winneba Fort Winneba was a slave fort designed to facilitate the trade in enslaved people. The Royal African Company built the fort in 1694, on the Gold Coast, in modern-day Ghana. William Smith, who had been appointed to review the Company's castles ...

Winneba Winneba is a town and the capital of Effutu Municipal District in Central Region of South Ghana. Winneba has a population of 55,331. Winneba, traditionally known as ''Simpa'', is a historic fishing port in south Ghana, lying on the south co ...

* Fort Sekondi at Sekondi *

Fort Kongenstein Fort Kongenstein ( da, Fort Kongensten) was a Danish trading fort located in Ada Foah, 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 ...

Ada Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, T ...

Fort Elize Carthago Fort Elize Carthago was a fort built by the Dutch West India Company in 1702 on a hill at the mouth of the Ankobra River, near the base of the Dutch on the Western Gold Coast, Fort Saint Anthony. Today, only ruins of the former fort can be found. T ...

near

* Fort Ruychaver on the banks of the

Ankobra River The Ankobra River is primarily situated in Ghana. Rising north east of Wiawso, it flows about south to the Gulf of Guinea. Its entire course is in south Ghana.Fort Witsen near Sekondi Clickable Regions of Ghana

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

(from East to West): *

Volta Region Volta Region (or Volta) is one of Ghana's sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. It is located west of Republic of Togo and to the east of Lake Volta. Divided into 25 administrative districts, the region is multi- ...

: **

Fort Prinzenstein Fort Prinzenstein ( da, Fort Prinsensten) is a fort located at Keta, Ghana which was used in the slave trade. Many such forts were built in Africa, but Prinzenstein is one of the few that lie east of the Volta River. Keta served as an open po ...

() *

Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the second most populated region, befor ...

: **

Fort Fredensborg Fort Fredensborg is situated along the Gulf of Guinea, in the Greater Accra Region in Old Ningo and was built in 1734. Because of its testimony to the Atlantic slave trade and the European colonial influence on West Africa, the fort was inscribed ...

() **

Fort Vernon Fort Vernon was a military structure designed to facilitate the Atlantic slave trade. The Royal African Company built the fort in 1742 near Prampram, a town in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. It was built out of cheap materials – rough stone ...

() ** Fort Augustaborg,

() **

Osu Castle Osu Castle (also known as Fort Christiansborg or the Castle) is a castle located in Osu, Ghana on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in Africa. A substantial fort was built by Denmark-Norway in the 1660s, thereafter the fort changed ownership ...

(Christiansborg),

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

() **

Ussher Fort Ussher Fort is a fort in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Dutch in 1649 as Fort Crèvecœur, and is a day's march from Elmina and to the east of Accra on a rocky point between two lagoons. It was one of three forts that Europeans built in the reg ...

() ** Fort James,

() * Central Region: ** Fort Good Hope ( Fort Goede Hoop),

() **

Fort Lijdzaamheid Fort Patience (Dutch: ''Fort Lijdzaamheid'', or, in 17th-century spelling, ''Fort Leydsaemheyt'') is a Dutch-built fort located in the township of Apam, in the Central Region of Ghana. Originally built in 1697, it served as a defensive fortificati ...

('Patience'),

() **

Fort Amsterdam Fort Amsterdam was a fort on the southern tip of Manhattan at the confluence of the Hudson and East rivers. It was the administrative headquarters for the Dutch and then English/British rule of the colony of New Netherland and subsequently th ...

, Abandze () ** Fort William,

() ** Fort Nassau, Moree () **

() ** Fort William (Lighthouse),

() ** Fort Victoria,

() **

Elmina Castle Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or '' Feitoria da Mina''), in present-day Elmina, Ghana (formerly th ...

() ** Fort Coenraadsburg,

() ** Fort Vredenburgh,

Komenda Komenda (; german: Commenda''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, pp. 26–27.) is a village in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia. It is t ...

() ** English Fort,

() * Western Region: **

Fort San Sebastian A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

, Shama () **

Fort Orange Fort Orange ( nl, Fort Oranje) was the first permanent Dutch settlement in New Netherland; the present-day city of Albany, New York developed at this site. It was built in 1624 as a replacement for Fort Nassau, which had been built on nearb ...

, Sekondi () **

Fort Batenstein Fort Batenstein was a fort and trading post established by the Dutch on the Gold Coast in 1656. It was situated near Butre (old spelling: ''Boutry''). The fort was ceded with the entire Dutch Gold Coast to Britain in 1872. At this fort, the Trea ...

, Butri () ** Fort Metal Cross, Dixcove () ** ,

() **

Fort Santo Antonio Fort Saint Anthony (Portuguese: ''Forte de Santo António''; Dutch: ''Fort Sint Anthony'') was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is now Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part ...

() ** Fort Apollonia, Beyin ()

Other regions

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

Fort in the

References

External links

Ghana-Net: Forts and Castles of Ghana
(with pictures)
Ghana Place Names: Forts & Castles
(meanings and origins of names) {{Gold Coast

Castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified ...