Fort Saint Anthony (Axim)

Fort Saint Anthony (Portuguese: Forte de Santo António; Dutch: Fort Sint Anthony) was a fort built by the Portuguese in 1515 near the town of Axim, in what is now Ghana. In 1642, the Dutch captured the fort and subsequently made it part of the Dutch Gold Coast. The Dutch expanded the fort considerably before they turned it over, with the rest of their colony, to the British in 1872. The fort is now the property of the Ghanaian state and is open to the public.

As the westernmost fort of the Dutch possessions, Fort Saint Anthony was the first fort encountered by Dutch traders, and the place where provisions and fresh water were taken in. Fort Saint Anthony remained an important fort in the Dutch possessions, with its commandant serving as senior commissioner (Dutch: oppercommies) in the Colonial Council in Elmina, together with the commandant of Fort Nassau at Moree, the commandant of Fort Crèvecoeur at Accra, and the commandant of the factory at Ouidah, on the Dutch Slave Coast. In contrast to many other Dutch possessions on the Gold Coast, Fort Saint Anthony was never abandoned during the 19th century, and remained occupied until 1872.

Because of its testimony to European pre-colonial and colonial trade and exploitation, Fort Saint Anthony was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with several other castles and forts in Ghana.

Text adapted from “Fort Saint Anthony” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Fort Saint Anthony (Axim) ranks #2,773 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #9 of the 32 mapped in Ghana. Founded 1515, it is older than 44% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 718 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Sekondi-Takoradi, 53 km away. See how Ghana compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗