Cape Coast Castle is located in an exotic region of Ghana known as Cape Coast. The castle is renowned for its fantastic museum housed in one of its wings. The castle has two neighboring forts which are known as Fort William and Fort Victoria. There are two grand forts located in Cape Coast’s neighboring city Elmina. The Cape Coast Castle as well as the two forts in Elmina is considered as the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Many tourists spend hours in the castle’s museum and learn about the painful Ghanaian history depicting the slave trade era. Proclaimed by many tourists, this museum is one of the best in the entire West Africa. For those who eagerly want to learn about the slave trade in West Africa are recommended to grab Ghana flights.
Cape Coast Castle’s origins can not be determined properly but its name is originated from the Portuguese which is cabo corso. It was somewhere in 1480s when the Portuguese landed the region to trade with the Fetu tribe. The people belonging to this tribe lived on the coast between Elmina and Cape Coast. It was the year 1482 when the foreign traders (Portuguese) erected a fortified trading post at the city of Elmina. This trading post was considered to be the first European building in the region (sub-Saharan Africa). As the trading in the region was made prominent, other European nations also landed in search of fortune. Between the 1600s and 1700s, the area received a wide collection of trading posts and forts built by Europeans. About 60 forts were built along the 300 mile long coast of Ghana but most of them have collapsed. There are a few remaining forts in which few are open to public and some are not. For instance, the two famous forts known as Ussher Fort and James Fort in Accra are its official prisons while the Osu Fort (in Accra) is restricted to government official which means general public are not allowed to visit – tourists are not even allowed to take photos of it.
Cape Coast became an important destination for the European traders and merchants. Most of the nations wanted to rule over the land and consequently the Dutch invaded Elmina in the year 1637. Their attacks and invasion cause a huge damage to the center of Portuguese activity in the West Africa. Portuguese influence was largely crumbled in the area allowing Dutch to gain control over the Cape Coast. It was the year 1650 when the Fetu tribe’s king allowed an English sea-captain to build on the cape. Five years later, a house was built on the cape and by the course of time it was enhanced into Carolusburg Fort. The name of the fort was given to it after the Swedish king of then era. These were the Danish who captured the fort in the year 1657. The area was long been made busy by several courses of wars and battles. The Cape Coast remained the biggest fort for years and even today it is erected with a mystifying pride.
Ghana today is highly visited by historians and a visit to the Cape Coast is indeed a must. A true historian will always appreciate his explorations in the Cape Coast if he aims to reserve cheap flights to Ghana. So visit the Cape Coast and learn the history bound in Ghanaian atmospheres.