# Cape Coast Castle

- **Country:** Ghana
- **Coordinates:** 5.103583, -1.241250
- **Location Text:** Cape Coast ()

Cape Coast Castle is one of approximately forty slave castles built on the Gold Coast of West Africa, now located in the Central Region of Ghana. Originally established as a Portuguese trading post in 1555 and named Cabo Corso, the fort was reconstructed as a timber fort by the Swedish Africa Company in 1653. Initially serving as a center for timber and gold trade, the castle was later used extensively in the Atlantic slave trade, functioning as a holding point for enslaved Africans before their forced transportation across the ocean to the Americas and Caribbean.

The castle operated as a significant commercial hub where barter trade occurred between European traders and local Africans. In exchange for gold, mahogany, and enslaved captives, local traders received European goods including clothing, blankets, spices, and silk. The fort's dungeons held hundreds of enslaved people in cramped conditions before their transfer to ships, earning the castle its grim designation as a "gate of no return." Cape Coast Castle, along with other forts and castles in Ghana including Elmina Castle and Fort Christiansborg, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 for its testimony to the Atlantic gold and slave trades. Today, the castle serves as a historical monument and museum, attracting visitors including notable international figures seeking to understand this dark period of history.

![Photo of Cape Coast Castle](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Cape%20Coast%20Castle%2C%20Cape%20Coast%2C%20Ghana.JPG)

**Source:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)