Elmina Castle: Then and Now

Built by the Portuguese in 1482 as São Jorge da Mina to trade in gold; later Dutch and British, it became a major depot of the Atlantic slave trade.

Elmina Castle, historical view — Elmina Castle in an engraving of 1704. Willem Bosman(?), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Key facts

Country today	Ghana
Status	Standing
Date	1482
Nearest city on the map	Kumasi (about 181 km)
Location	5.083° N, 1.349° W

Map showing Elmina Castle in 1400 — Border map for 1400. See the world in 1400.

Open Elmina Castle in the interactive map

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<iframe src="https://chronicamaps.com/?embed=1#y1482-m-elmina-castle-l-en" width="100%" height="520" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy" title="Elmina Castle: Then and Now"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:13px;margin:4px 0 0">Interactive map: <a href="https://chronicamaps.com/en/landmark/elmina-castle">Elmina Castle: Then and Now</a> · Chronica Maps</p>

Who ruled this place

Derived from the border maps; each row runs until the next recorded border change.

Period	State
500 BC–899	West African cereal farmers
900–999	Mandes
1000–1491	West African cereal farmers
1492–1599	Akan
1600–1782	Unclaimed / no data
1783–1814	Asante
1815–1879	Fante
1880–1899	Gold Coast (GB)
1900–1913	Accra
1914–1919	Gold Coast
1920–1937	Ghana
1938–1959	Gold Coast
1960–today	Ghana

Battles and sites nearby

Elmina · 1482

More: Historic landmarks of Ghana · All landmarks