Elmina
Ghana · Central Region · 10 m
Description
St George's Castle at Elmina (Edina) was built by the Portuguese in 1482 and is the oldest European building standing anywhere south of the Sahara, older than any structure the Spanish put up in the Americas. It passed to the Dutch in 1637 and to the British in 1872, and through all of it functioned as a slave fort. Twelve kilometres west of Cape Coast, Elmina is the smaller and rawer of the two, with a lagoon harbour crammed with hundreds of painted canoes and a second fort, São Jago, looking down on it from the hill opposite.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 to 2 days (optimal 1 day)
Travel season
Best time to visit: July – August or November – February
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- St George's Castle (UNESCO World Heritage)
- Elmina fishing harbour and its painted canoes
- Fort São Jago on the hill above
- Female slave dungeon and the governor's quarters
- Elmina posuban shrines of the asafo companies
- Bakatue lagoon festival (approx. July)
- Dutch cemetery and the colonial graves
- Coconut Grove beach west of town