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Fort Nassau

Fort Nassau

Jacob Clantius

Photo: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Moree, Ghana
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1612
Access
Public
Style
—

Fort Nassau is a ruined fort near Moree, Ghana, built in 1612 by the Dutch under Jacob Clantius. It was the first fort the Dutch established on the Dutch Gold Coast, and the Treaty of Asebu was signed that year. Ownership later moved from the Admiralty of Amsterdam to the Dutch West India Company, and the fort was expanded in 1624.

It served as the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast until 1637, when the Dutch captured Fort Elmina. British forces under Thomas Shirley captured Fort Nassau in 1781, when it was armed with 20 guns. The Dutch occupied it from 1612 to 1868. It was known for unhealthy conditions, as the Dutch were unfamiliar with building in the tropics.

Features include a guard room and quarters once inhabited by Willem Bosman. The fort testifies to the African gold trade and the Atlantic slave trade. In 1979 it was inscribed as part of the UNESCO Forts and Castles group.

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