Elmina: beautiful castle, ugly history

[This article was originally published in Nkwazi Magazine]

It’s just past 1pm and I’ve arrived in Elmina, a town on Ghana’s southern coast.

Locals direct subtle glances at my fellow travellers and me; they can tell we’re not from around here. We ask for directions to the castle, the main reason we’re in town.

Crossing the bridge to the castle

Elmina Castle, built by the Portuguese in 1482, is one of about 40 castles and forts along Ghana’s coastline. The former trading post and UNESCO World Heritage Site is among the oldest European buildings in sub-Saharan Africa. The Portuguese were drawn to the area because it was rich in gold, but eventually human beings became its primary export. People from present day Ghana and other parts of West Africa were held here anywhere from two weeks to three months before being shipped off to the Americas (the United States, Brazil and Jamaica included). The castle in Elmina, along with many others in West Africa, was a critical part of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

The view as we drove into town

As we got closer to the castle we’re approached by children asking for money and a few men trying to sell us locally produced jewellery. I gave in to one persistent vendor and agreed to have him make a bracelet displaying the name of a close friend back home. One gift sorted and after that I made a beeline for the castle.

It’s striking how beautiful the castle, the ocean and Brenya Lagoon are, especially when considering the area’s ugly history. Our tour guide, Alex, first takes us to the female dungeons. These rooms, originally made to store gold and other goods, are dark, musky and humid. Upwards of 150 people were crammed here with no consideration for sanitation, ventilation or a proper diet and they could be kept anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. I tried to imagine the stench, the fear and the despair. I know what happened in those rooms but it’s incomprehensible and I cannot understand how it continued for centuries. The castle held around 1,000 captives at a time, roughly 400 women and 600 men. As many as two thirds would die before a ship arrived to transport them to the Americas but there was often a steady supply of newly captured men and women.

Women held in Elmina had to deal with the added indignity of sexual abuse by the governors, officers and traders occupying the castle. The men were at liberty to pick any woman they wanted. She was then thoroughly washed before she was raped. Otherwise, captives held at Elmina were never given the opportunity to bathe the entire time they occupied the castle. Enclosed by the female dungeons is the inner courtyard where women who refused to be used as sex slaves were punished. They were chained to a canon ball, which still sits in the courtyard, and left to endure the elements for several days. This served as a punishment for the women and also as a deterrent for their fellow captives who had a view of what awaited them if they refused to be used by their captors.

Inner courtyard and female dungeons

Leaving the inner courtyard, we go past the male dungeons and on to “the door of no return” in the room the men and women spent their last moments before boarding ships headed for the Americas. That’s if they survived the dungeons. The door of no return is more like a little window, small enough to let one emaciated person through at a time. For safety reasons, metal bars have been placed over the door. The room is pitch-black and gloomy but looking through the door I see locals enjoying a game of football, women selling food and fishermen resting by their boats on a bright and sunny day. Life goes on, the castle is merely a backdrop.

The door of no return

And the view from outside

After the door of no return the group heads upstairs to the rooms occupied by officers, traders, governors and even clergymen. Not only did priests, pastors and missionaries live here along with slaves, two churches were built in the castle. This was a shock to some but not me; when it comes to slavery and colonialism, the Church was often on the wrong side of history. The first church, built by the Portuguese, occupies a central spot in the main courtyard and is now a museum. When the Dutch seized the castle from the Portuguese they built their own church upstairs and turned the original one into a slave auctioning room. After they bought it from the Dutch, the British built a new church outside the castle.

Main courtyard with the Portuguese church in the centre

View from inside the Portuguese church

The living quarters upstairs are, in stark contrast to the dungeons, spacious, well ventilated and built to let in a lot of light. It’s amazing to think that Europeans lived comfortably while below, Africans wallowed away in dehumanizing conditions. The roof of the castle offers gorgeous views of Elmina town, the sea and Fort St de Jago, another Portuguese building. The fort sits atop a hill and was built to protect the castle from attacks. At the top I felt conflicted. Once again, I was struck by the beauty of the castle and marveled at the fact that the building was still standing after 534 years but this felt wrong, as though acknowledging its beauty was disrespectful to those who suffered here.

Fort St de Jago

Later, back at ground level, we visited two cells that stand side by side, both with the purpose of punishing unruly occupants. One meant to contain drunken officers had a door built to allow a decent amount of light and air. Marked with a skull and cross bone, the other room, however, is where slaves were sent to die, usually after attempting to escape. Alex had us enter the punishment cell meant for officers. “I’m sorry the tour has to end like this,” he said and then walked away. We chuckled at this joke Alex has probably played on visitors countess times, a light-hearted moment during an emotional tour.

"I'm sorry the tour has to end like this"

Towards the end of our tour we discussed African complicity in the slave trade, something relatively few people know about. Chiefs would trade captives from enemy villages for anything from alcohol to gunpowder. Some Africans became slave raiders and captured fellow Africans, typically from rival tribes, for Europeans.

I know slave trade happened but it’s one thing to know about it and another to understand it. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is not part of my history as a Zambian but I’m also half Nigerian and the realisation that some of my ancestors may have passed through Elmina en route to the Americas is sobering to say the least. One can only take comfort in the fact that slavery is over. But it’s not over. It still exists in countries like Mauritania and Sudan to name a few. Human trafficking is a form of slave trade and forced labour still exists around the world. And we still persecute those that look different from us and hold different beliefs.

I believe it’s important to move on but in doing so I do not want to forget the atrocities of slavery and I find it fitting that we ended the tour at a spot with a particular message inscribed in the wall:

In everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors.

May those who return find their roots.

May those who died rest in peace.

May humanity never again perpetuate such injustice against humanity.

We the living vow to uphold this.

Huffing and puffing through the castle with my camera in hand

The tour was over and outside more people were selling jewellery and trinkets, my friend’s bracelet was ready and someone was trying to get me to make a donation to the Elmina Community School Football Club. It was time to move on but I have internalised the message inscribed on that wall and am committed to honouring it.