Forts & Castles
Elmina Castle, built in 1482, is the oldest European building south of the Sahara
Central Region
Elmina Castle, Central Region
Portuguese-built, Dutch-held and finally British, Elmina Castle sits above a working lagoon harbour thirteen kilometres from Cape Coast.
São Jorge da Mina was raised by Portuguese masons in 1482 with stone shipped from Lisbon, making it the oldest surviving European structure in sub-Saharan Africa. The Dutch took it in 1637 and held it for more than two centuries before ceding it to Britain in 1872.
The castle is entered across a causeway above the Benya Lagoon, where hundreds of painted canoes tie up. Inside, the tour covers the Portuguese church later converted into an auction hall, the courtyards, the dungeons and the governor’s apartments.
Above the town, the smaller Fort St. Jago looks down on the castle and gives the best photograph of the whole harbour. The two can be visited on a single ticket.
What to see
- The Portuguese chapel and the Dutch-era courtyards
- The Benya Lagoon causeway and the canoe harbour below
- Fort St. Jago on the hill opposite, included on the joint ticket
- The condemned cell and the memorial plaques
Getting there
- Shared taxis run continuously between Cape Coast and Elmina and take about twenty minutes.
- From Accra allow three and a half hours by road on the N1.
Get directions
Visitor tips
- Combine the castle with an early walk around the fishing harbour.
- Buy the joint ticket if you also want to climb to Fort St. Jago.
