Fort San Sebastian

Fort San Sebastian
Part of Dutch Gold Coast

Fort San Sebastian in 1890.
Fort San Sebastian
Coordinates 5°01′45″N 1°37′16″W / 5.029111°N 1.621061°W
Site history
Built 1523
Garrison information
Occupants Portugal (1523-1642)
Netherlands (1642-1872)

Fort San Sebastian located in Shama, Ghana is the third oldest fortification in Ghana.[1]

History

It was built by the Portuguese from 1520 to 1526 as a trading post in and captured by the Dutch West India Company in 1642. The original purpose of the fort was to serve as a deterrent to English sailors interfering in Shama trade.[1] The first black European university professor, Anton Wilhelm Amo, lies interred in the fort's graveyard. The fort was ceded with the entire Dutch Gold Coast to Britain in 1872.

During the time of the African Slave Trade, kidnapped slaves were imprisoned here while awaiting transport to North America.[2]

Gallery

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort San Sebastian (Ghana).
  1. 1.0 1.1 "Fort San Sebastian, Shama (1526)". Ghana Museums and Monuments Board. Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  2. Harrold, Darlene Clark Hine, William C. Hine, Stanley C (2014). The African-American odyssey : the combined volume (6th edition, combined volume. ed.). ISBN 0205940455.

Coordinates: 5°01′45″N 1°37′16″W / 5.029111°N 1.621061°W