Elmina Castle - the Governors quarters are above.

We then toured Elmina Castle. Originally built in the 1400's by the Portuguese, it was taken over by the Dutch in the 1600's and used to "house" slaves while they awaited the slave ships to arrive across the Atlantic. As you can tell in the photos, the men and women were kept in dark, damp cave-like dungeons below the castle, where there were no toilets and very little light. Many died of disease and starvation before the ships arrived.

The English then purchased the castle from the Dutch. It is also known for the last war between the English and the Ashanti, when King Prempeh was held there before being exiled. This is an interesting story in itself, which involves tricking the English into believing they were given the famous golden stool of the Ashanti, when in fact the Queen Mother had a false one made up to fool them.