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Photo: Damien Halleux Radermecker, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Built in 1482, Elmina Castle is the oldest European structure in Africa and incidentally the oldest slave fort. Elmina was a notorious slave fort used for moving slaves onto ships bound for other parts of the world. Although today it is a tourist attraction, it was once used as a prison by the Ghanaian government. It is quite a sobering experience and can be emotional at times (particularly the "room of no return", the cell for rebellious slaves, and the female slave dungeons, which still smell of bodily fluids). There is an admission fee as well as a minimal fee (a few pesewas, about 50 cents) for taking pictures. The money you spend is well worth it. Besides a guided tour with knowledgeable, friendly tour guides who are open to questions, there is an on-site restaurant, bookstore, gift shop, and a small museum inside the renovated Portuguese church within the castle.
Elmina Castle, or Fort St. George, was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina, also known as Castelo da Mina or simply Mina, in present-day Elmina, Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast. It holds several profound distinctions: it was the first trading post built on the Gulf of Guinea and is the oldest extant European building in Sub-Saharan Africa.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Part of the Coconut Grove group, the Bridge House occupies a large brick building in the harbour of Elmine. From the courtyard, you are in talking distance of the fishermen preparing for or returning from fishing. Rooms are spacious and clean. The restaurant is fine, but the food is nothing special. The location of the Bridge House is superb, as it is near both Elmina Castle as Fort St. Jago, and only a short walk from the Dutch Cemetery.
Fort Conraadsburg
The original building was made out of earth by the Dutch in order to launch attacks on the Portuguese-owned Elmina Castle, and in the 1660s, the Dutch replaced that structure with this fort. It was used strictly as a military fort for the purpose of protecting Elmina Castle after the Dutch successfully took it from Portugal. In the 19th century it became a prison and later a hospital. Along with Elmina Castle, Fort St. Jago is one of the 11 sites that make up the World Heritage Site "Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions".