Day Tour - Forts in the West

  

All the Forts and Castles can be found in the Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions of Ghana. The remains of these fortified trading-posts (Forts and castles) for mainly slaves trade that were erected between 1482 and 1786 can still be seen along the coast of Ghana. They were links in the trade routes established by the Portuguese in many areas of the world during their era of great maritime exploration. Not to miss are the Cape Coast castle, Elmina castle and Fort St Jago which were used as holding places for slaves during the Slave Trade era.

You find a List of all Forts in Ghana here.

 

Day Tour - Fort Gross Friedrichsburg

Coordinates: 4° 47′ 28″ N, 2° 8′ 2″ W

The Brandenburg Africa Company were the latecomers in the struggle for dominance of the Gold Coast. After landing at the village Pokesu in 1683 the Brandenburgers obtained the location where the Fort was erected in exchange for protecting the village against the Dutch and other slave traders.

Fort Grossfriedrichsburg - the only German Fort in Ghana - became the most important smuggling center along the coast by the 1690's. In 1716 the Fort was taken over by a local chief with the nickname "King of Prince's Terre". His role in the trade network was so great and powerful that it had a declining effect on other Dutch ports nearby. This resulted in a series of clashes between John Connie - the chief and the Dutch until the Fort was finally captured by the Dutch in 1724 and stayed under their control for 150 years until it was signed over to the British in 1872.

 

Day Tour - Fort Santo Antonio

Coordinates: 4°52′05″N 2°14′40″W

Fort Santo Antonio was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is currently the West African country of Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part of the Dutch Gold Coast. The Dutch expanded the fort considerably before they turned it over, with the rest of their colony, to the British in 1872. The fort is now the property of the Ghanaian state and is open to the public.

This triangular fort is the second oldest fort in Ghana after Elmina Castle and dates back to the Portuguese era approximately 1515. As Axim was one of the most busy trading posts in the 17th century more gold was traded through Fort São Antonio than any Dutch Fort. By the 18th century the area surrounding the Fort became an important source of timber and cotton. The Fort became a regional administrative centre in the colonial era and stayed that way until early 2000.

 

Day Tour - Fort Metal Cross

Coordinates: 4° 48′ N, 1° 57′ W

he Dicki's Cove Fort was built by the British in 1696 and was the only British Fort in a Dutch controlled territory for the better part of two centuries . It was captured by the Dutch in 1868 and renamed Metalen Kruiz and again returned to the British in 1872 along with all the other Forts along the coast. The name stayed but was changed into the English version - Metal Cross.

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