A ship on land: the forgotten Fort Augustaborg

A ship on land: the forgotten Fort Augustaborg

Built in the waves of the Gold Coast, this slip of stone and sand defied the tides - and the traders.

Fort Augustaborg was a Danish fort on the eastern Gold Coast in present-day Ghana, which was located about 15 km east of Fort Christiansborg near present-day Teshie. The fort was named after Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark and was constructed in 1787, to combat attacks from the Portuguese Empire. It was also used as a post for the Atlantic slave trade. Five years later, Denmark was the first European nation to abolish the slave trade. On 17 August 1850, the fort was one of five Danish forts purchased by Queen Victoria. After the independence of Ghana in 1957, the fort became owned by the new administration. Along with 32 other forts and castles along Ghana’s coast, Fort Augustaborg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons

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Written by Mutabor

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