Elmina Castle (Sao Jorge de Mina or St. George of the Mina) was built by the Portuguese in 1482 in present-day Elmina, Ghana. It is located, on what was then called, the Gold Coast of Africa. It is the oldest European building below the Sahara. Beside trade for gold and ivory, it would also become a holding place for Africans slaves bound for the Americas. The people of the region of Elmina belong to a group of people known as Fante. The Fante are just one of several people belonging to the Akan people. Elmina lay between the different Fante kingdoms, Fete and Equafo. The Castle Elmina, like other West African slave fortresses, housed luxury suites for Europeans in the upper levels. The slave dungeons located below were cramped and filthy. Each cell housed as many as 200 people at a time, without space to lie down. The floor of the dungeon, as a result of centuries of impacted filth and excrement, is several inches higher than when it was built. Diseases such as malaria and yellow fever were common among the slaves. Staircases led directly from the governor’s chambers to the women’s dungeon, making it easier for him to select a concubine. The walls of the dungeons still bare the marks of fingerprints of those trying to escape. At the seaboard side of the castle was the infamous “door of no return.” This is the door that African slaves passed through to board the ships that would take them to the Americas, on the journey known as the “Middle Passage.” They would never see their homeland again. During the 1700s, 30,000 slaves passed through this door each year. In 1637, the Dutch took control of the Elmina. In 1872, the British took control of Elmina from the Dutch. And in 1957, Ghana gained its independent from the British. Elmina Castle is now a world heritage site. The picture below is that of President Obama showing his youngest daughter, the exit door called the point of no return. However, now over the door is a sign saying point of return, meaning that African descendants whos ancestors left from there can now return.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 02:20:37 +0000
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