id: gh-central-elmina-castle
name: Elmina Castle
tradition: african
location:
  country: GH
  region: Central Region
  locality: Elmina
  lat: 5.0847
  lon: -1.3511
built:
  from: 1482
  to: 1482
  period: Portuguese 1482, Dutch from 1637, British from 1872
condition: intact
definitions_met:
  state_fortification:
    verdict: 'yes'
    basis: Built and garrisoned by the Portuguese crown as a fortified trading post and later
      held by the Dutch and British states. State commission and military purpose, with no
      private lordly residence organising it.
  fortified_residence:
    verdict: 'no'
    basis: A garrison and trading establishment rather than the residence of a private lord.
      The resident governor held office from a state, which is the distinction the criterion
      turns on.
  popular_castle:
    verdict: 'yes'
    basis: Universally called Elmina Castle, a World Heritage site and one of the most visited
      historic sites in Ghana.
  palatial_seat:
    verdict: 'no'
    basis: Not a palatial residence.
  enclosure_fortification:
    verdict: 'no'
    basis: A designed artillery-era fort, not a prehistoric enclosure.
  revival_folly:
    verdict: 'no'
    basis: Genuine defensive fabric.
register_entries:
- register: wikidata
  ref: Q1140852
  url: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1140852
disputed: false
first_seen: '2026-07-21'
last_updated: '2026-07-21'
confidence: high
sources:
- url: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/34
  title: Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions
  publisher: UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  date: '1979'
- url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmina_Castle
  title: Elmina Castle
  publisher: Wikipedia
notes: 'Raised in the originating thread as a case where the strict definition and ordinary
  usage collide, and where the word does heavy and uncomfortable work: Elmina was a site of
  the transatlantic slave trade, and its dungeons are what most visitors come to see. UNESCO''s
  own inscription is titled ''Forts and Castles'' - using both words rather than choosing.
  A dataset that quietly resolves this to ''castle'' or quietly drops it is making a historical
  judgement while appearing to make a taxonomic one.'