Central Region
Cape Coast Castle, established in 1555 by the Portuguese, is one of about forty “slave castles”, or large commercial forts, built-in Ghana of West Africa by European traders. Was originally a center for trade-in timber and gold but was later used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. At Cape Coast Castle, the underground dungeon was a space of terror, death, and blackness.
This stood as a direct juxtaposition to the European living quarters and commanding heights of whiteness above, who lived relatively luxuriously. The basement of this imposing fortress was often the last memory slaves had of their homeland before being shipped off across the Atlantic, as this signified the beginning of their journey.
This is a plaque unveiled during Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama’s visit to the castle.
These are presents from visitors culturally to represent slaves that lost their lives.
Female slave dungeons could take one hundred and fifty people at a time.
