Ghana’s castles: Where slave trade is still alive

These three castles are the Elmina Castle, the first which was built by the Portuguese in 1482; the second, Christianborg Castle, was built by the Danes in Accra in 1661 and the third, Cape Coast Castle, originally a fort built in Cape Coast in 1664 by the Swedes, was built for the purposes of trading […]

These three castles are the Elmina Castle, the first which was built by the Portuguese in 1482; the second, Christianborg Castle, was built by the Danes in Accra in 1661 and the third, Cape Coast Castle, originally a fort built in Cape Coast in 1664 by the Swedes, was built for the purposes of trading in gold, slavery and spices, amongst others. Even after decades of the end of the slave trade, these three castles still hold and emit the realities of all that went on in them at the time.

The Cape Coast Castle  

This castle started as a small fortified Fort, Fort Carrolsburg, built by the Swedish government in 1664 but was later taken over by the Danes in an attack which led to the evacuation of the Swedes. The Brits eventually took over the Fort, developed it into a castle and built slave dungeons in 1792.

After indigenes got captured, they were split into two groups – domestic and commercial slaves. The domestic slaves were retained to serve in the homes of the slave masters, some of which were in the castles as the commercial ones were accommodated elsewhere in the castle.

The castle is made up of five dungeons – three for the males which housed not less than 250 occupants at a time and two for the females which housed 150 individuals in each compartment. At every point in time, there were no less than 1,000 inhabitants in these dungeons.  Each dungeon was luxuriously done up with fine cold stonewalls and they somewhat still heat up fury in the minds of tourists who visit the sites.

In order to maintain the brilliance of the look of the occupants and protect the aesthetics of the interiors from the outside world and light, there is a small opening at the top of the ceiling which let in sea breeze and sunlight during the day and moon/starlight at night, thus giving the perfect ambiance for togetherness and storytelling.

These all-purpose apartments boast toilet facilities which were simple ‘drainages’ stringed out on the floors and water facilities which is rain water filtering in from the opening, which also serves as light and air sources. This facility was used to wash away the faeces, urine, blood, vomit and other forms of waste from the slaves.

At the Palaver Hall which served as the trading points in the castle, slaves were hawked along with other merchandise like gold, mirrors and spices. Considering the nature of the comfort zones and slaves having to wait for four to six weeks before ships arrived to cargo them to the Americas, many of them took ill and died while still in the dungeons. It usually took a day or two before inmates were relieved of the stench emanating from the bodies.

There was alternative arrangement for slaves that were considered stubborn. They were housed in what is referred to as the ‘Condemned Cell’. These cells by the apt way in which they were constructed to fit the purpose helped the slaves thrown in them to suffocate and die off.

These castles also served as worship altars to God Almighty, and what better room to situate His altar than in the upper room right above the male dungeon? While fellow humans were perishing and wallowing in the splendour of their body waste and discomfort of the dungeon below separated by a sheet of block, praise and worship and thanksgivings for business boomed amongst others, were taking place.  

For a few minutes, lights were switched off so that guests could have a feel of the atmosphere that the slaves lived in for four centuries. It is better experienced than described. Their cries of agony, the putrid smell of faeces, urine and vomit along with decaying corpses all seemed to come alive in the darkness as they combine into a powerful force hitting every sense organ of the living.  

The museum located inside the castle told more gory stories along with illustrations which are a true reflection of the journey of Africans from the time they were captured until when they were eventually sold off and cargoed to foreign lands.

The Danish Fort of Accra: Christiansborg Castle, Ghana

The Christiansborg Castle served as the headquarters for the Danish which enhanced their commercial activities along the Gold Coast.

The castle which is the second of them to be constructed in 1661 was sold to the British in 1850 along with all the other forts of lodges belonging to them. Although the castle presently serves as the seat of Government for Ghana, it still bears the monogram of King Christian VII.

The Elmina Castle of Elmina, Ghana

The Elmina castle is the first slave castle built in Ghana in 1482 by the Portuguese and was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea. This makes it the oldest European building below the Sahara.  At the time it was named St. George of the Mine Castle , São Jorge da Mina in Portuguese. It was also referred to as Mina or Feitoria da Mina.

St. George of the Mine Castle initially served as a trade settlement before it graduated to becoming one of the most important and significant points on the Atlantic Slave Trade route.

In 1637, it was seized by the Dutch who also went on to take over the Portuguese territories in the Ghana, in 1642.

It was a thriving slave trade point which the British took over in 1871.

The Elmina Castle is one of the most prominent slave trade posts which still carry a vivid and almost physical encounter of the goings-on that took place in the slave trade era on the Gold Coast.

Just as the Christianborg serves as seat of government for Ghana, some others are in use as lighthouses, post offices, police stations as well as official residences.

According to records, the remains of fortified trading-posts, erected between 1482 and 1786, can still be seen along the coast of Ghana between Keta and Beyin. They were links in the trade routes established by the Portuguese in many areas of the world during their era of great maritime exploration.

From time to time blacks all over the globe visit these sites to have a feel of the experiences of the forefathers or to bond as some of them say.

One of such is, Jonathan Nelson who spoke briefly to our reporter on his visit.

The 78-year-old Caribbean who is visiting Africa for the first time amidst tears-provoked stutters said, “It all still feels so very real to me. My grand-father was a slave and I was lucky to have had him in my life in my first six years. Coming here and feeling the coldness of these walls and how cluster-phobic the felt in it brings to virtuosity and almost physical, the narrations he gave to me as a child. I just visited Calabar which is where he came from but I didn’t get to see any such history.  

For yet a descendant of slave masters who gave her name as Irene Moore who is also visiting Africa for the first time but had taken time to read about the slave trade history and brace herself up before coming, it was just as painful a visit.

Red all over, she said, “It is a very ugly part of history that I am happy has come to an end. I feel the coldness and inhumanity that the blacks went through from visiting the dungeons and spending a few minutes inside them with the lights switched off. I also feel the hatred emanating from the blacks towards us as our paths crossed at the entrances. I understand how they feel and would react in the same measure if I were in their place. There is absolutely no excuse for what happened here. Unfortunately, I am a descendant of people who perpetuated these acts.”

Due to the brutality and inhumanity that went on there, in 1979, all the Castles and Forts were found worthy of being categorised by UNESCO, as World Heritage Sites. The Forts and Castles of Ghana, as inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979, consist of three castles, 15 forts in a relatively good condition, ten forts in ruins and seven sites with traces of former fortifications.

Each one of the castles still bears true testimonies of the four hundred or so years of gold, spice, ivory and human trade under the name of God.