Cape Coast

Ghana, Ghana

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Cape Coast is a historic coastal city in Ghana's Central Region, located on a low promontory jutting into the Gulf of Guinea of the Atlantic Ocean about 75 miles (120 km) southwest of Accra, the capital of Ghana.

Originally founded by the people of Oguaa and first named "Cabo Corso" by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century meaning "short cape," the city later became one of the largest centers for the transatlantic slave trade in West Africa, receiving enslaved people from locations as far away as Niger and Burkina Faso.

The city's most prominent landmark is the Cape Coast Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site built by the Swedish in 1655 and taken over by the British in 1663, which now stands as a powerful and haunting reminder of the slave trade era with its dungeons where enslaved people were kept locked before being herded onto vessels.

Cape Coast served as the British commercial and administrative capital of the Gold Coast until 1877 when Accra became the capital, and it was controlled by various colonial administrations including the Swedish, Portuguese, Danish, Dutch, and British throughout its history.