Fort Amsterdam, Ghana
| Fort Amsterdam | |
|---|---|
| Part of Dutch Gold Coast | |
 Fort Amsterdam | |
  Fort Amsterdam | |
| Coordinates | 5°11′32″N 1°05′35″W / 5.192222°N 1.093056°W |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1638 |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | English (1631-1665) Netherlands (1665-1868) |
| Location | Abandze, Central Region, Ghana |
| Part of | Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions |
| Criteria | Cultural: (vi) |
| Reference | 34-004 |
| Inscription | 1979 (3rd Session) |
Fort Amsterdam is a former
World Heritage List in 1979 along with other forts and castles in Ghana.[3]
History
Early in 1782, Captain
Fort Crêvecoeur or Ussher Fort – 32 guns).[4]
In 1811, the people of Anomabo, who happened to be allies of the British attacked the fort, leaving it in ruins. It was unoccupied from then until its restoration in 1951 by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.[5]
The town of Abandze has grown around the site of the fort today.
The original structure of Fort Amsterdam
It had a rectangular outline with two
bastions at the corners. They were linked by curtain walls. There was a central courtyard. Arranged around it were a one-storeyed building on the west side, a two-storeyed building along the north side and a line of two or three storeyed buildings on the south
side.
The curtain and bastion on the north were solidly built, while the others were constructed with an earth filling between two walls of stone laid in mortar. As a result of cracks and disintegration at the time, it was left unoccupied.
The
southeast, which was designed to be hollow, had a grated ventilation in the roof, and was in addition used as a slave prison. It is believed to have been the first of its kind in the Gold Coast. Slaves taken from this fort were said to have been named Coromantee.[6]
Trade
From 1705 to 1716, trade figures at the fort were given as 481 marks of
slaves. There were complaints of little trade at other times as well. This was due to wars and also because the local chief was said to have leased the site to the British, and not the Dutch. The Dutch had no jurisdiction there, and the Cormantin people blocked their trade routes whenever it suited them, until the former had paid huge sums of money.[7]
Image gallery
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Fort Amsterdam front view -
Main gate -
Fort Amsterdam -
Slave Dungeon in Fort Amsterdam -
Side front view of Fort Amsterdam in Ghana -
Fort Amsterdam, Ghana -
Fort Amsterdam in Ghana -
Fort Amsterdam in Ghana -
Front view of Fort Amsterdam -
Fort Amsterdam in Ghana -
Fort Amsterdam -
Fort Amsterdam -
Sunset at the Fort Amsterdam -
Komantin Beach From Fort Amsterdam -
Canon in Fort Amsterdam -
Open skies in Fort Amsterdam
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References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Kormantin.
- ^ "Ghana Museums & Monuments Board". www.ghanamuseums.org.
- OCLC 41624572.
- ^ "Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions". UNESCO World Heritage Convention. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-7146-1647-6
- OCLC 41624572.
- OCLC 41624572.
- OCLC 41624572.