Fort St. Jago
Fort Coenraadsburg or Conraadsburg, also known as Fort São Tiago da Mina, is a modest Portuguese chapel built in honor of Saint Jago and located opposite Elmina Castle in Ghana’s Central Region to guard Fort Elmina from attack.
History
In the 1660s, Fort Conraadsburg was constructed. It was built on the site of a fortified church built by the Portuguese and destroyed by the Dutch at the Battle of Elmina (1637). In 1872, the Dutch handed over the fort, along with the rest of the Dutch Gold Coast, to the British. The Dutch utilized the hill as a gunpoint to assault the Portuguese in 1637 before the fort was erected. The Dutch built a fortified earthwork the following year to prevent others from using the same approach against the Portuguese.
Features
J. Valckenburgh, the then-Director General of Elmina Castle, replaced the earthen structure with a permanent fort made of local sandstone and christened it Coenraadsburg in the 1660s. Because the fort was primarily intended for military objectives, there were no commercial warehouses. The Dutch utilized the fort as a jail for European offenders and as a disciplinary institution for their personnel who disobeyed their laws because it was well-guarded.
Since the fort was handed from the Dutch to the British, it has been upgraded to facilitate civilian pursuit. The fort has served as a prison, a hospital, and a rest stop in recent years.
The fort is being operated as an inn and restaurant and is in good shape. The fort is open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Location
Similar Places
