Sunday, 01 August 2010

• Discovering Ghanaian Colonial Heritage at Fort St. Jago

  Famed for its two forts, the beautiful little town of Elmina lies on the Ghanaian coast, enjoying stained sunrays with the palm trees working as colanders. Waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash the crescent shaped-bay while hills rise behind the bay to curtain the city of Elmina. These hills are known as St. Jago’s Hills and they are the location for Fort St. Jago. The fort is just as perfect as small it is and is located atop the hill, overlooking the fishing port of Elmina. Surprisingly this is one of the few offering of Ghana flights, which has a history not related to the ugly slave trade.

   

  In contrast to the inhuman slave trade, Fort St. Jago was built by the Dutch in 1666 after they got hold of St. George’s Castle. The move was made in attempt to keep the defense of the newly conquered property as St. Jago’s Hills were quite a comfortable location from where conquests into Elmina could be made. In fact, the Dutch themselves had attacked St. George’s Castle from the same location. However, latter part of the history reveals that this security arrangement could only be of little use to them. The foundations of this fort were laid on the ruins of the Catholic Church built and later abandoned by the Portuguese. Apparently, the Dutch had a peaceful rule over Elmina keeping aside the two attacks from the British in the years 1971 and 1872. Dutch retained control of the city of Elmina until 1901 when the slave trade declines as well as the gold mines reduced production. It was then that they lost interest in Elmina and everything in it and sold the city to the British in a negligible cost to flee to Indonesia where they found a more profitable trade.

   

  The Dutch had built Fort St. Jago to function as military barracks while the name given to it was Fort Coenraadsburg. Once they left, this fort became a guesthouse after which it was converted into a hospital. Once a proper hospital was set up in the city of Elmina, Fort St. Jago started to be used as a prison only until a permanent prison was set up in the city. Finally, the fort again became a guesthouse. In 1986, the guesthouse was closed and Fort St. Jago emerged as an archeological site, depicting Ghanaian heritage. It later became a UNESCO World Heritage Site to pack large numbers of tourists and history lovers in cheap flights to Ghana and draw them here.

   

  Unfortunately, money is something that is driving Ghanaian government to consider turning Fort St. Jago back into a guesthouse. No doubt, the fort’s magnificent and aesthetically done rooms are airy enough to be hospitable enough for guests and the views down the hill are simply breathtaking. If the old chapel is utilized as a suite and officers’ rooms as dorms, it could be a fabulous guesthouse. Candlelight dinners on the tower with views of setting sun in the Atlantic Ocean might make it one of the finest hotels in Africa. Fortunately it is not clear whether a guesthouse would earn more profits or an archeological and up till now, a UNESCO World Heritage Site is safe!               

   

   

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