Fort Amsterdam, UNESCO, Abandze, Ghana

Fort Amsterdam, UNESCO, Abandze, Ghana 

Fort Amsterdam is a fort in Kormantin, Central region, Ghana. It was built by the English between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Cormantin or Fort Courmantyne, and was captured by admiral Michiel de Ruyter of the Dutch West India Company in 1665.

Overlooking a coconut palm beach, the originally-British fort, Fort Amsterdam, sits on a hill in Kormantin-Abandze in the Central Region.

The leasing of the site for the fort was engineered in 1631 by Arent Groote, a disgruntled former employee of the Dutch West India Company, on behalf of the English company, ‘The Governor and Company of Adventurers of London Trading to Guynney and Binney’ . Arent Groote persuaded the Ambro Braffo (Chief of the Fanti state) to sign exclusive trading rights to the British, who then proceeded to construct a lodge to coagulate their claim to the area.

In 1640, the lodge was destroyed by fire. Believing the Dutch to be the arsons, a charge fervently denied, the British built a heavily fortified fort. The new fort had four bastions linked by thick walls, and a three storey apartment. In 1661, the Royal African Company obtained ownership of the fort, and it became the headquarters of English Gold Coast activities.

Epic Ghana Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound