Fort Coenraadsburg or Conraadsburg, also Fort São Tiago da Mina, is a small Portuguese chapel built in honor of Saint Jago and it is situated opposite the

Elmina Castle Elmina Castle was erected by the Portugal, Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Factory (trading post), Feitoria da Mina''), in presen ...

in the Central region of Ghana, to protect

Fort Elmina Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Feitoria da Mina''), in present-day Elmina, Ghana (formerly the ...

from attacks. Owing to its historical importance and testimony to the Atlantic slave trade, Fort Conraadsburg was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with several other castles in Ghana.

History

Fort Conraadsburg was built in the 1660s. It was built on the site of a fortified chapel that the Portuguese had built and that the Dutch had burned to the ground in the

Battle of Elmina (1637) The Battle of Elmina in 1637 was a military engagement between the Portuguese and the Dutch that culminated with the capture of the historical St. George of Elmina Fort by the latter. In 1637 the Dutch West India Company detached nine ships f ...

. The Dutch ceded the fort to Britain in 1872, together with the entire Dutch Gold Coast. Before the fort was built, the Dutch used the hill as a gun-position to bombard the Portuguese in the year 1637. To prevent others from doing the same tactic against the Portuguese, the Dutch constructed a fortified earthwork the following year

Features

In the 1660s, the then

Director General J. Valckenburgh changed the earthen fortification with a permanent fort made up of local sandstone and named it ''Coenraadsburg''. The fort was built mainly for military purposes so it had no commercial warehouses. The fort was well-garrisoned so the Dutch used it as a prison for European convicts and also as a disciplinary institution for their officers who are disobedient to their laws. Ever since the fort was transferred from the Dutch to the British, they modified the fort for the easy use of it for civilian pursuit. In recent years, the fort has been used as a prison, a hospital and a rest house. The fort currently in a good condition, is used as an inn and a restaurant. The fort opening hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm.

Gallery

File:GRAMBERG(1861) p113 KASTEEL ST.GEORGE EN FORT COENRAADSBURG TE ELMINA.jpg, Fort Coenraadsburg (published 1861) File:Fort Conraadsburg.jpg, View of Coenraadsburg from Elmina File:Fort st jago elmina ghana.jpg, Fort Coenraadsburg File:Fort St. Jago (1 of 3).jpg, Fort St. Jago File:Fort St. Jago - Elmina - Ghana (4721617794).jpg, Fort St. Jago

References

External links

3D model, of Fort Saint Jago
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1652 History of Ghana Castles in Ghana Dutch Gold Coast Elmina 1652 establishments in Africa 1652 establishments in the Dutch Empire Coenraadsburg