Famous Landmarks in Accra
Dutch, British and Danish forts still stand along Accra's shoreline within a few miles.
Every landmark covered here is a seventeenth-century coastal fortification standing within a few kilometres of the others, in the old quarters of Ussher Town, Jamestown and Osu that later merged into modern Accra. Three rival trading powers built them in close succession: the Dutch raised Fort Crèvecœur, now Ussher Fort, in 1649; England's Royal African Company built Fort James in 1673; and Denmark–Norway raised Fort Christiansborg, now Osu Castle, in the 1660s. Each anchored its own settlement and its own share of the gold and slave trade moving through the coast. All three remain walled and defensive rather than civic in form, and all three are inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Osu Castle
1661
The largest and most elaborate of the area's three colonial coastal fortifications — a walled castle rather than a small trading fort — standing directly on the shoreline facing the Gulf of Guinea.
Raised by Denmark–Norway in the 1660s as Fort Christiansborg, this coastal castle changed hands repeatedly afterward, passing between Denmark–Norway, Portugal, the Akwamu kingdom, Britain and, eventually, independent Ghana. Under Danish control it served as capital of the Danish Gold Coast and was used to hold and dispatch enslaved people across the Atlantic. In 1902 it became the seat of government of the Gold Coast, a role it kept until Ghana's government moved to Jubilee House. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 with several other Ghanaian forts.
- It changed hands between five different rulers, including the Akwamu kingdom, before Ghanaian independence.
- It served as the seat of Ghana's government until the role passed to Jubilee House.
Photo: Twi inaccr (CC0)
Ussher Fort
1649
Standing on a rocky point pinched between two lagoons, the smallest and plainest of the area's three colonial forts, its low walls set apart from the neighbouring castle and fort along the same shoreline.
Built by the Dutch in 1649 as Fort Crèvecœur, this fort sat two days' march from the Dutch stronghold at Elmina and was one of three forts European traders raised along this stretch of coast in the mid-seventeenth century. It formed part of the Dutch Gold Coast until the Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty of 1867 transferred it to Britain the following year. Renamed Ussher Fort, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 alongside the region's other colonial-era forts and castles.
- It stood two days' march from Elmina, a larger Dutch stronghold further along the coast.
- A treaty signed in 1867 handed it from Dutch to British control, more than two centuries after it was built.
Photo: RoySST (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Fort James
1673
A fort standing immediately beside a lighthouse, the two structures forming a paired landmark on the point where the surrounding neighbourhood takes its name.
Built in 1673 by the Royal African Company of England as a trading post for gold and enslaved people, Fort James joined the nearby Dutch and Danish forts along the same coast. It was likely named after James, Duke of York and later King James II, governor of the company at the time, and gave its name to the surrounding Jamestown neighbourhood. From the colonial era until 2008 it served as a prison; Ghana's first president was held there in 1950 and 1951. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
- It held Ghana's first president as a prisoner in 1950 and 1951.
- It gave its name to the surrounding Jamestown neighbourhood.
- It served as a prison from the colonial era until 2008, more than three centuries after being built as a trading post.
Photo: Synth85 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
History
Accra began as three separate fortified trading posts built along this stretch of coast within a single generation. The Dutch built Fort Crèvecœur in 1649, later renamed Ussher Fort; the Royal African Company of England built Fort James in 1673, giving its name to the adjoining Jamestown; and Denmark–Norway raised Fort Christiansborg, today's Osu Castle, in the 1660s. Ownership of the forts shifted repeatedly among Denmark–Norway, the Netherlands, the Akwamu, Britain and, eventually, Ghana itself, as the Anglo-Dutch Gold Coast Treaty of 1867 and other transfers redrew control of the coast. The settlements around the three forts grew together into a single town, which became the capital of the British Gold Coast in 1877 and remained so until Ghanaian independence in 1957. That threefold origin left the old town with three separate forts rather than one dominant monument.